Maharashtra Timeline 2013

Date

Incidents

January 3

The State Government's industrial policy announced in Mumbai has significant incentives for Naxal affected areas and backward regions like Vidarbha.

A top CPI-Maoist identified as Thakkalpalli Vasudeorao alias Asanna alias Satish alias Vasu alias Sujit who carries a reward of INR 2.5 million on his head, entered Gadchiroli District of Maharashtra.

CPI-Maoist cadres carried out a small explosion near the venue of a sports event organised by the Police Department for people along Dhanora-Heti road in Dhanora in Gadchiroli District, Maharashtra.

CPI-Maoist cadres sabotaged road construction work underway between Aheri and Medpalli on Bhamragad Road near Mirkal village under Aheri tehsil of Gadchiroli District, Maharashtra by setting ablaze three tractors and a JCB.

Police arrested the 'deputy commander' of Kasansoor Dalam of the CPI-Maoist, identified as Ramesh alias Kaju Gawde, during anti-Maoist operation in Reknar village in Etapalli tehsil of Gadchiroli District, Maharashtra

A group of around 40 cadres of CPI-Maoist set ablaze 27 vehicles at a road construction site near Lekha (Menda) village on Godalvahi-Dhanora road in Gadchiroli District of Maharashtra.

CPI-Maoist cadres set ablaze three vehicles, deployed at a construction site, on Sawargaon-Gyrapatti road in Dhanora tehsil of Gadchiroli District of Maharashtra.

SFs killed six CPI-Maoist cadres including four top leaders, near Jimulgatta, in Aheri tehsil of Gadchiroli District of Maharashtra.

During a mass gathering earlier this week at Potegaon in Gadchiroli District of Maharashtra, the senior Police officials unveiled their plans to take five villages in adoption for catalysing the developmental processes in such interior localities.

Southern Gadchiroli Divisional Committee of the CPI-Maoist criticised its former secretary Shekhar alias Mallaya and his wife Vijaya who surrendered before the Andhra Pradesh Government in 2012.

Sympathy for CPI-Maoist philosophy with likelihood to indulge in various violent activities is not sufficient ground to conclude that the accused are presently active members of the Maoist organisation, the Bombay High Court held while granting bail to four youths held from Pune in Maharashtra allegedly for their Maoist links.

Top ranking Naxal leader Thakapalli Vasudev Rao alias Assannna alias Satish alias Sujit has entered Gadchiroli District of Maharashtra.

The CRPF narrowly escaped a CPI-Maoist attack on them, near Sirpur village in the jungle of Pendhri, in Gadchiroli District of Maharashtra.

A Police team from CPI-Maoist-affected Gondia District of Maharashtra was in Pune city to probe details of an organisation 'Green Future Foundation' suspected to be a front for the Maoists.

A CPI-Maoist leader, R Sambi Reddy alias Prabhakar Reddy, was killed in an exchange of fire between the Police and the rebels in Gadchiroli forest area in Gadchiroli District.

Maharashtra Government said it cannot be claimed that Naxal activities in Gadchiroli District have ended until the movement comes to a complete halt.

State Home Department informed the legislature that it spent INR 2.91 billion for construction of 10 fortified Police Stations in Naxal affected areas, besides capital outlay for road transport.

A special team of Gadchiroli District Police which was carrying out search operation near Mungner and Bodhin villages in Pendhri division near Chhattisgarh border came under fire from the cadres of the CPI-Maoist.

CPI-Maoist cadres killed a person at Kothi village in Bhamragad tehsil of Gadchiroli District on suspicion of being a Police informer.

Two commandos of Maharashtra's Special Anti-Naxal Force, C-60, suffered bullet injuries in an encounter with Maoists in a village in Gondia District.

Maharashtra Government adopted a government resolution to hike by 50 per cent salary and dearness allowance of Police personnel serving in Naxal affected areas.

Strengthening its capability for anti-LWE operations, IAF will deploy a squadron of its latest Mi-17 V-5 helicopters in Nagpur to cater to the needs of extremism-hit States of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.

A tribal youth, identified as Bandu Durga Pungati (27), was allegedly axed to death outside his house in Laheri village in Gadchiroli District by CPI-Maoist cadres on suspicion that he was a Police informer.

Gadchiroli District Police started a "Campaign Nav Jeevan" to appeal to the Maoists from tribal Districts to surrender by reaching out to their families.

Four tehsils of Gondia District -- Gondia, Goregaon, Tiroda and Amgaon, which were removed from the list of Maoist-affected areas on February 4, have again been included in the list.

Maoists abducted three civilians - Sabhash Gavade, Gagan Gawade and Vijay Madavi - from Daldal Kuhi village under Salekasa tehsil in Gondia District.

Two cultural activists, who according to the Maharashtra ATS have suspected links with the Maoists surrendered at Nariman Point's Inox junction near Vidhan Bhavan in Mumbai.

Maoists reportedly opened fire on a Police patrol team near Malewada village in Kurkheda division of Gadchiroli District.

Seven Maoist cadres were killed in an encounter with Police in Bhamragad Division of Gadchiroli District.

Maharashtra Government is ready to hold talks with those involved in Naxal activities and also their sympathisers, State Home Minister R R Patil said in Mumbai.

Gadchiroli Police recovered five bodies of Naxals who were shot dead in an encounter near Bhatpar village on the Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh border in Bhamragad division.

A search party of the CoBRA recovered IEDs in the jungle of Rangi in Dhanora Division of Gadchiroli District.

SFs exchanged fire with the Maoists in a brief encounter in Tadgunda jungle under Etapalli Sub-Division of Gadchiroli District.

Four CPI-Maoist cadres, a Policeman and two villagers were killed in an encounter between Maoists and Commandos of an anti-Naxal unit, C-60, in a forest of Dhanora in Gadchiroli District.

The Gadchiroli-based Western Regional Committee of the CPI-Maoist has announced that it would participate in a nationwide bandh (shut down strike) call given by the Central Regional Bureau on April 27.

CPI-Maoist cadres set ablaze a Gram Panchayat building in Godalwahi village in Dhanora Division of Gadchiroli District.

CPI-Maoist cadres opened fire on a CRPF and District Police team near Jarawandi forest under Etapalli Division of Gadchiroli District.

The call for Gadchiroli District bandh given by the Western Regional Committee of CPI-Maoist did not have much impact.

Two youths accused of promoting Naxal ideology - Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaychor- wanted by the Maharashtra ATS since 2011 were arrested by the State Police.

SFs found the decomposed body of a woman, suspected to be a CPI-Maoist cadre, inside the forest near Sindhesur village in Gadchiroli District.

A CPI-Maoist cadre was killed by C-60 Commandos under Malewada Police Station in Kurkheda Sub-Division of Hetalkasa jungle in Gadchiroli District.

A group of armed CPI-Maoist cadres opened fire on a team of C-60 commandos patrolling in Nurgunda jungle near Bhamragarh-Kothi road in Gadchiroli District. Though none of the SF personnel was injured in the encounter, Police suspect that at least a couple of Maoists are injured. The Police recovered some arms and ammunition from the site.

Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha agreed to be on board for a coordinated offensive with the central forces in the tri-junction of the Bastar jungles from where the senior Maoist leadership operates.

Gadchiroli District Police recovered arms and explosives from a well in a farm hardly few meters behind the Gadchiroli Police Headquarters. Police refused to jump to conclusions but also refused to rule out CPI-Maoist hand behind the hidden cache of arms.

Twenty-eight cadres of the CPI-Maoist from different dalams (squads) in Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh border areas have surrendered before Gadchiroli District Police due to its initiative called 'Campaign Navjeevan'. The campaign was launched in December 2012.

Cadres of the CPI-Maoist killed three persons including a Vice President of Lloyds near Nender village in Etapalli tehsil in Gadchiroli District of Maharashtra. The victims are - Jaspal Dhillon, VP, Lloyds, a sub-contractor A. P. Mallikarjun Reddy and Police Patil Raju Sadmake. The Maoists also left a pamphlet near the bodies. "The government is trying to start mining in Surajagad and Damkodvadavi hills in Gatta. This is our reply to the 'Janavirodhi' [Anti-people] policies of the government…." read the pamphlet by CPI-Maoist. Gatta area has been tense over a proposed JSW ISPAT Iron Ore Mining Unit on Damkodvadavi hills which will affect many villages in Gatta and Gardewada Gram Panchayat (village level local self-government institution). Almost all the villages in this belt opposed the project and the Maoists too backed them.

Statistics furnished by Gadchiroli Police say 396 Maoists returned to the mainstream since 2005, when the Government's surrender policy was launched with fresh vigour. The list, however, is devoid of names from the top brass. The record shows that so far only one Special zonal committee member (SZCM) and two divisional committee members (DVC) have surrendered in the last eight years, apart from 13 'commanders' and another 15 'deputy commanders'.

CPI-Maoist cadres killed a medical store owner, identified as Lekhram Sabu Lilhare, in Darekasa village of Salekasa taluka in Gondia District.

A Maoist cadre, identified as Shivaji alias Chaitu Pada of Local Operating Squad Gatta group, who was wanted in connection with a number of cases in Etapalli taluka (administrative unit) of Gadchiroli District, was arrested.

Acting on a tip-off, Police arrested four people and seized a consignment of explosives, ammunition and medicines being supplied to Maoists in a Government ambulance near Bhamragarh of Gadchiroli District.

Gadchiroli Police arrested two alleged Maoists and seized INR 35,000 from them in Koinvarshi forest area. Police sources claimed they had a tip-off about a Maoist meeting in Gatta (Jambia) area in Etapalli tehsil.

Police also detained a man and woman over their suspicious presence in the area. The duo claimed they were students and were doing research in Gadchiroli District under a fellowship obtained through the Prime Ministers Gram Vikas Yojana.

The Police exchanged fire with CPI-Maoist cadres near Murgel village in Gadchiroli District.

CPI-Maoist cadre Chaitu Pada who was arrested for involvement in the murder of Vice-president of Lloyds Metals & Engineers and two others has revealed the conspiracy of the triple murder to the investigators.

A fast track court in Nagpur acquitted Angela Sontakke the alleged Maharashtra State Committee member of the CPI-Maoist in a Maoist related case but convicted two others under the UAPA.

Raj Reddy Pocham Gaddewar, a Police constable was shot dead by four suspected cadres of CPI-Maoist near Assarali Police Station in Gadchiroli District.

The Bombay High Court granted bail to Sheetal Sathe, an activist of radical music group Kabir Kala Manch and an alleged Maoist sympathiser, on humanitarian grounds. Sathe is due to deliver her baby next month.

A group of CPI-Maoist cadres opened fire at the newly inaugurated Sawargaon Police Station under Dhanora division of Gadchiroli District.

A senior CPI-Maoist 'commander' of Jantana Sarkar and member of 'Aheri area committee' in Gadchiroli District is reported to have approached the Anti-Naxal Operations cell with an intention to return to the mainstream following his age-related complications.

CPI-Maoist cadres killed a man, identified as Arjun Petta Madavi (27), suspecting him to be a Police informer, in Gadchiroli District. The body of Madavi was found near Kalhed village in Sironcha division of the District.

Maharashtra Police's C-60 commandos, along with a section of CoBRA commandos, shot dead six woman cadres of CPI-Maoist and recovered arms and ammunitions after an encounter near Mandri village in Etapalli division of Gadchiroli District.

Four CPI-Maoist cadres surrendered before the Maharashtra Police in Gadchiroli District.

Dilip Narote, a resident of Yerkad in Dhanora tehsil of Gadchiroli District, was shot dead from point blank range by CPI-Maoist cadre. The Maoists labelled Narote as Police informer before eliminating him in full view of villagers at a prominent place.

CPI-Maoist has called a bandh in Gadchiroli and Gondia Districts on July 15 to protest the killing of fellow women cadres in recent encounters.

The Naxal-affected Districts of Gadchiroli and Gondiya will soon get a 'special development authority' to curb red-tapism and thereby expedite development, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan announced in the Assembly.

A bandh called by CPI-Maoist protesting against the alleged Police encounters, including in which six woman Maoists were killed recently at Medhri village in Etapalli taluka of Gadchiroli District, evoked partial response in the District.

A magisterial inquiry has been ordered into the death of six suspected women CPI-Maoist cadres, who were killed in a Police encounter near Mendhri in Etapalli taluka of Gadchiroli District.

The Bombay HC refused to grant anticipatory bail to a former Zilla Parishad President and NCP leader from Gadchiroli, Bandopant Mallelwar, accused of providing explosives to Naxal groups.

Fourteen CPI-Maoist cadres, belonging to remote and tribal villages of Gadchiroli District and adjoining Chhattisgarh State, surrendered before Maharashtra Home Minister R. R. Patil.

RR Patil said Naxals are the biggest stumbling block in the development of Gadchiroli District of Maharashtra.

Mumbai Commissioner of Police Satyapal Singh suggested that imposing curfew, slapping collective fine and taking to task sarpanch and elders in villages found to be giving food and shelter to Maoists are some of the measures to cripple the Naxal menace.

A CPI-Maoist cadre, Pintu Jawahar Paswan (23), belonging to Gaya District in Bihar, was arrested from Mumbai. The Mumbai Crime Branch and Jharkhand Police raided a construction site at Mulund in Mumbai and arrested Paswan.

CPI-Maoist cadres killed a civilian, identified as Zanardan Jhade (45) of Marneli village, in Gadchiroli District.

Maharashtra Home Minister RR Patil underlined the urgent need of forming a District Development Authority for Gadchiroli stating that both, the system and the CPI-Maoist are posing a great development challenge in the Maoist-infested area.

Police officers serving in Maharashtra's Naxal-affected areas will now be eligible for quicker promotions. A proposal to this effect has been approved by the State as an incentive for officers posted in the hinterland, especially in Naxal-hit areas.

Gadchiroli District Police arrested 52-year-old Prashant Rahi alias Prashant Sanglikar, an Uttarakhand-based journalist-turned-activist, along with Vijay Teerki of Chhattisgarh, for their alleged links with CPI-Maoist.

The Maharashtra State Anti-Naxal Operations unit now has a special propaganda cell for countering the campaigns triggered by the CPI-Maoist either to corner the SFs or to show it in poor light.

Police seized a cache of arms after an exchange of fire took place between them and the CPI-Maoist cadres in the forests of Kharkadi village in Dhanora tehsil of Gadchiroli District.

October 10

Taking advantage of curtailed Police movement during rainy season, the CPI-Maoist in Gadchiroli District have been quietly rebuilding their bases shaken by intensive combat and peace operations by the Police.

Ravindra Kadam, DIG, Anti-Naxal Range, has said in an interview that Police have enough evidence to establish that Prashant Rahi is a CPI-Maoist cadre.

Three Police personnel were killed in a CPI-Maoist attack near Gyarabatti area of Gadchiroli District.

Five persons have been arrested in connection with the killing of three Police troopers during a CPI-Maoist attack in Gadchiroli District last week.

SFs killed two CPI-Maoist cadres near Hiddoor village of Etapalli Sub-division in Gadchiroli District. A C-60 Commando Ganpat Madavi was also killed in the encounter while another was seriously injured.

Maharashtra state committee of the CPI-Maoist called for Vidarbha bandh (general shut down strike) to protest the Government's failure to extend genuine assistance to farmers of eastern Maharashtra, which was severely hit by excess rains and flooding this year. The Maoists claimed that Police's repressive policy and natural disaster have taken a heavy toll of farmers in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra.

A head constable, attached to Jarawandi Police Station in Etapalli tehsil (revenue unit) in Gadchiroli District, was hurt in a brief gun battle with CPI-Maoist cadres. Preliminary inquiry suggested that the Maoists could be part of Kasansur LOS.

Four District Police personnel, including Police outpost in-charge of Halwada in Etapalli tehsil (revenue unit), were injured in a blast triggered by the CPI-Maoist cadres.

The Maharashtra Government had sent a proposal to Nagpur collector for setting up a helipad at Government Medical College for treating Police and armed forces personnel who get injured in encounters with CPI-Maoist in Gadchiroli.

Ten CPI-Maoist cadres, including a 'deputy platoon commander' and four couples, surrendered before Gadchiroli Police. The surrender was formalised at a programme presided over by the Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order), Ahmed Javed.

Two Commando-60 troopers were injured during an exchange of fire with CPI-Maoist cadres in the outskirts of Rengawahi village of Etapalli division in Gadchiroli District.

A contractor, identified as Dhananjay Padishala, was arrested from Gadchiroli District for allegedly carrying a consignment for CPI-Maoist.