SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 14, No. 45, May 9, 2016

INDIA

Print

Madhya Pradesh: Disturbing Portents
Deepak Kumar Nayak
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management

On April 15, 2016, Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres from the Malajkhand Dalam (armed squad) abducted two villagers from Jalda Navhi village under the Pathri Police outpost in the Balaghat District of Madhya Pradesh. They were blindfolded and taken deep inside a nearby forest where they were assaulted and subsequently shot at. While one of the abductees, Rati aka Sunder, a Class 12 student, died on the spot with a bullet in his skull, the other, identified as Rajkumar, faked his death and managed to escape. He later told Police that there were 30 to 40 Maoist cadres and they were repeatedly asking about their linkages with the Police.

On April 11, 2016, Maoists reportedly looted a truck and set it ablaze at Dhiri Murum village in the Mataghat area of Balaghat. Police said a group of 25 to 30 armed Maoists, dressed in green uniforms, looted a truck and then set it ablaze. Before leaving the area they warned other villagers to stay away from Police and Government officials.

On April 7, 2016, a Maoist was injured in an encounter with the Security Forces (SFs) near the Chukkatola village forests in Balaghat District. Dinesh Sagar, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Balaghat, stated, “We received information from the sarpanch [head of Panchayat, village level local self Government institution] that some people, according to him who were Naxalites [Left Wing Extremists], interrupted him on 4 April [April 4, 2016] and demanded to arrange wages payment under MNREGA [Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act] which are due for last several months. They gave him an ultimatum or asked him to resign. While this morning when we were on search operation, Naxalites started firing on Police party near Pathri ghati (valley) under Malanjkhand Police Station area of Birsa tehsil [revenue unit], around 60 kilometres away from Balaghat District headquarters. One ultra received bullet but we could not recover the body as his accomplice might have taken him away, combing and search operation in the area is going on (sic).”

Meanwhile, according to a May 2, 2016, report, the Maoists have released a pamphlet, allegedly published by the North Gadchiroli-Gondia ‘divisional committee’, warning the Balaghat Superintendent of Police (SP) Gaurav Tiwari of dire consequences. The pamphlet also threatened alleged ‘Police informers’ and people working for implementation of various Government schemes in Maoist-affected areas of the District. The pamphlet also urged villagers to emphasise their rights on “Jal, Jungle and Zamin’ (water, forests, land) instead of taking television sets, sewing machines, radio and other items from the Government.”

According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) database, the District has recorded at least four Maoist-linked incidents in 2016 (data till May 8, 2016). The total number of Maoist-linked incidents reported from the District, since the formation of the CPI-Maoist on September 21, 2004, stands at 36. The first Maoist-linked incident in the District was recorded on December 10, 2006, when Maoist cadres had put up posters announcing a bandh (shut down strike) in the Balaghat District in protest against alleged Police excesses.

Among the incidents reported from the District, three involved killings. Prior to the April 15, 2016, incident of civilian killing, a SF trooper, identified as Harish Rahgdale (27), was killed on September 22, 2010, in an ambush by Maoist cadres near Sitapala in the District. Another trooper was also injured in the ambush. One Maoist was killed on May 26, 2012, in an encounter near Bamni village under the Roopjar Police Station area in the District. The body of the slain Maoist was recovered along with a .315 bore rifle and 45 cartridges. Police also recovered explosives, medicines, rifle cleaning equipment, and other materials from the encounter site, left behind by the fleeing Maoists.

Balaghat has also recorded at least six incidents of exchange of fire between the SFs and the Maoists since the formation of the CPI-Maoist. These included one incident each in 2010 and 2012; two incidents each in 2014 and 2016. Four incidents of setting ablaze of public properties were also recorded. Two such incidents were reported in 2010; while 2012 and 2016 accounted for one incident each. SFs also seized arms and ammunition on at least eight occasions. Two incidents of recoveries were reported in 2007; four incidents in 2011, one incident each in 2012 and 2014. Posters and pamphlets released by Maoists have also been recovered on at least four occasions.

In addition, SFs arrested 11 Maoists in nine incidents from the District. Two extremists each were arrested in 2007 and 2008; three in 2009; and one each in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015. Some of the significant arrests included, two Maoists, identified as Santlal aka Chetram and Saleeta, carrying head money of INR 20,000 each, arrested by the Police on August 31, 2007 from an unspecified place; a woman Maoist cadre, identified as Kamla, wanted in several cases and carrying a reward of INR 30,000, arrested from the Kodhapar Forest area on September 21, 2008; Nirmala (sister of Kamla), an active member of the Malajkhand dalam and who carried a reward of INR 20,000, arrested from Mate village on an unspecified date in August, 2008; a Maoist cadre, identified as Rajkumar aka Ketar aka Hare Singh, carrying head money of INR 15,000, arrested by the Police during a search operation at Tumma village on March 4, 2009; a woman Maoist ‘commander’, identified as Jhinia Pusam (32), arrested from the Lanji area on January 30, 2011; a CPI-Maoist North Gadchiroli Divisional Committee member, identified as Guha Uike aka Dilip (38), wanted in around 200 criminal cases, arrested from the jungle of the Songudda area on May 22, 2015. Dilip carried a reward of around INR 2.7 million including INR 1.6 million announced by the Maharashtra Police, INR 800,000 announced by the Chhattisgarh Police, and INR 300,000 announced by the Madhya Pradesh Police.

The recent spurt in Maoist activities in Balaghat District has not come as a surprise. The dramatic contraction of Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) – in terms of geographical areas of influence, violence and capacities – in neighbouring areas has been the principle reason for their regrouping in areas which are on the peripheries of their strong holds, which have come under extreme pressure over the past few years. In order to intensify their activities and reassert their presence in central India, the Maoists have carved out a new zone ‘North Gadchiroli Gondia Balaghat Divisional Committee’ for their operations, comprising Gadchiroli and Gondia in Maharashtra and Balaghat in MP. The Maoists appointed Pahad Singh as the leader of the unit on December 10, 2012.

Balaghat is a strategically important District for the Maoists. It has all that is needed to facilitate rebel activities – difficult terrain, dense forests, vulnerable populations and extreme backwardness. Balaghat occupies the south eastern portion of the Satpura Range and the upper valley of the Wainganga River. The total area of the District is 9,245 square kilometres, with about 85 per cent under forest cover.

The District Development and Diversity Index Report for India and Major States published by the US-India Policy Institute and Centre for Research and Debates in Development Policy (CRDDP) in January 2015, found that, among the 599 Districts across India under purview of the Survey, Balaghat  was ranked 439^th, i.e., among the most backward. The Report took composite development — measured in terms of economic development and indices of health, education and material well-being – into consideration.

Adding to the problem is a porous border which adjoins Chhattisgarh [Rajnandgaon and Kabeerdham Districts] and Maharashtra [Gondia and Bhandara Districts], two States in which the Maoists have long been active. On January 31, 2016, Balaghat SP Gaurav Tiwari stated that the Madhya Pradesh Police have started a house-to-house survey of 40 Maoist-hit villages in Balaghat District to ensure sympathisers in the area are unable to hide rebel leaders: “We have started surveys in 40 villages in Baihar and Lanji areas of the District, where people are known to be Maoist sympathisers over the years… The rebels use these villages to hide when they are on the run from security forces in the neighbouring Districts of Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra. Once they are in these villages they hide their weapons, and it is difficult to identify them... In Balaghat, there are two main Maoist dalams or local units of the rebels with more than 30 active members, who keep moving between the three States.” At least five incidents of such inter-State crossings have been recorded in the District since 2004, according to SATP.

Notably, Rajnandgaon and Gondia are among 106 Maoist-affected Districts across the country listed by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. Balaghat is also one among them.

Madhya Pradesh has a total of 51 Districts. Apart from Balaghat, six Maoist-linked incidents have been recorded from four other Districts since the formation of CPI-Maoist in September 2004. These included two incidents each from Bhopal, the State capital, and Shahdol; while one incident each was reported from Sehore and Singrauli. These incidents alone do not demonstrate a significant Maoist presence in the State, outside Balaghat. Yet, State Home Minister Babulal Gaur warned, on February 9, 2014, that a total of 10 Districts have been hit by "red-sponsored terrorism", hampering development in these areas.

These are disturbing signs. With the Maoists under extreme duress in neighbouring States, MP offers tempting areas for relocation, particularly with the poor Police profile in the State. MP has the fourth lowest number of Policemen (27.3) per 100 square kilometres among all States in the Country, less than half the national average of 54.7 according data last released by the National Crime Records Bureau in 2014. The State also has a relatively low Police-Population ratio, at 112 per 100,000, well below the national average of 141 (which itself is far from satisfactory according to international standards), and fifth from the bottom among all States.

According to an August 12, 2015, report, the State Government has decided to form a Special Indian Reserve Battalion (SIRB), a force that can be deployed across the State for maintaining law and order and to fight the Maoists. A total of seven companies and 1,107 posts are to be created in the special force. State Home Minister Babulal Gaur disclosed, "The SIRB is being established in MP to combat the Naxalites. Its headquarters will be at village Kanki of Balaghat District, neighbouring Naxal-hit Chhattisgarh." No further information on the current status of the Force is available.

The Maoists are in sharp retreat across their traditional areas of dominance, and it would be unfortunate if they are able to carve out a new sphere of operations due to the lackadaisical responses of the MP Government. A sense of tremendous urgency – of which there is little present evidence – must attend the responses to this, as yet, emerging challenge in the State.

PAKISTAN

Print

Karachi: Murky Operations
Ambreen Agha
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management

On April 20, 2016, seven Policemen guarding polio workers were shot dead in two separate target killing incidents in Orangi Town of Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh. Ehsanullah Ehsan, the 'spokesman' of the Jama'at-ul-Ahrar (JuA, Group of the Free), a breakaway faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), while claiming responsibility for the attack in an email statement sent to Agence France-Presse (AFP) asserted, "We have carried out both attacks on the polio teams in Karachi, this was a part of ongoing attacks on Police and law enforcement agencies."

Earlier, on March 29, 2016, a Special Security Unit (SSU) commando, identified as Zahid Jaffri (31), who had been doing security duty at the State Guest House, was shot dead in the Kareemabad area of Gulberg Town. According to Deputy Inspector General (DIG-West) Feroz Shah, Jaffri was killed in a target attack.

In another targeted attack, a Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officer, identified as Muhammed Ali Khanzada, was killed and his body was found near a car parked on Lyari Expressway on February 7, 2016. Dr. Fahad Ahmed, Superintendent of Police, Jamshed, disclosed that it appeared Khanzada was killed somewhere else and later the car and his body were abandoned on the expressway.

According to partial data compiled by South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), at least 531 Security Force (SF) personnel have been killed by terrorists/ criminal gangs in Karachi since 2011. Of these, 10 have been killed in the current year so far (data till May 8, 2016).

Significantly, the extremists have been increasingly targeting SFs since the start of the Rangers-led ‘targeted action’ on September 5, 2013, against criminals involved in the “four heinous crimes of target-killing, kidnapping, extortion and terrorism.” A total of 241 SF personnel have been killed since the launch of the ‘targeted action’ (data till May 8, 2016).

More worryingly, on April 1, 2016, a report by Karachi’s law enforcers identified as many as six wings of TTP that were in the process of being activated by establishing 'Special Task Forces' to target SFs. On the basis of the revelations made by arrested terrorists, Security officers alerted all Departments of the threat and revealed that the terrorist outfit had started assigning ‘missions’ to their cadres.

The relentless attack on SFs is taking place despite frequent tall claims by SFs and the Government, of huge successes in the fight against terrorists/’criminals’. Indeed, the last report released by the Pakistan Rangers in Sindh on December 29, 2015, claimed that at least 4,074 suspected ‘criminals’/terrorists had been arrested during 2,410 raids and operations through 2015. Of these, 2,198 were formally handed over to the Police for prosecution, including 887 terrorists, 268 target killers, 97 extortionists and 49 kidnappers.

A detailed report released on July 8, 2015, by the Pakistan Rangers in Sindh stated that, since the launch of the ‘targeted action’ on September 5, 2013, the Rangers had carried out 5,795 operations during which they had apprehended 10,353 suspects and recovered 7,312 weapons and 348,978 rounds of ammunition. The Rangers also traded fire with suspected ‘criminals’ in a total of 224 ‘encounters’ in which 364 suspected criminals were killed and another 213 were arrested. The Rangers also arrested 82 abductors and, in the process, secured the release of 49 abducted persons from captivity. In addition, a total of 826 terrorists, 334 ‘target killers’, and 296 extortionists were arrested during this period

Meanwhile, on April 13, 2016, the Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) General Raheel Sharif lauded the Rangers, Intelligence Agencies and other law enforcement agencies for their “phenomenal achievements” and also expressed his satisfaction at the success and pace of the Operation.

Despite these operational successes, however, the security situation in Karachi remains worrisome and has raised widespread concerns over the selective targeting of the terrorist/criminals by the law enforcers. According to partial data compiled by the SATP, Karachi has accounted for at least 123 killings, thus far, in 2016, including 23 civilians, 10 SFs and 90 militants.  

While questioning the Rangers-led operation, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) chairperson Zohra Yusuf on March 13, 2014, noted,

There should be no double standards. There have been some operations against extremist elements in Karachi by law enforcement agencies, but in no way can it be said that it's being done to rid the city of them [militants]. I think the policy needs clarity… I think there should be a comprehensive strategy with clarity. The attitude is not clear. Such incidents point to failure of the entire National Action Plan..

The selectivity of the operation is not surprising as it has been the case in other operations launched across Pakistan in the past and some of which continue till today. While the army targets TTP and a few other domestic formations in these operations in the tribal areas of the country, their feigning ignorance at the presence of terrorist groups operating against other states continues to create spaces for domestic groups to regroup and revive as well.

Among the groups that continue to enjoy impunity are sectarian militant outfits that include the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), Sunni Tehreek (ST), Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jama’at (ASWJ), Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and element within TTP, along with a range of politically protected target killers, extortionists, land grabbers and kidnappers. No prominent leader involved in sectarian violence and terrorism has been arrested, thus far. In Lyari, for instance, Gulabo, a local gang leader of the Ghaffar Zikri-led Lyari gang, has been operating against political leaders without visible action from SFs. Gulabo has been responsible for a range of political killings, including the murder of Mir Ishtiaq Baloch, a local leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on January 17, 2016. Baloch’s brother, the central leader of the PML-N, Mir Ashfaq Baloch claimed, on March 9, 2016, that the Government was not interested in arresting the culprits involved in the killing and lamented, “Over two months have passed since the murder of my brother but nobody has been arrested so far. And the failure of law enforcement agencies’ to arrest the killers has whipped up fear among the local political and social activists of the area.”

Director General (DG) Rangers Sindh General Rizwan Akhtar confirmed the political patronage enjoyed by some gangsters, during a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to review law and order situation in Karachi on March 14, 2014. Akhtar disclosed that some leaders of the ruling party were backing gangsters in Lyari and claimed that the major reason for the deteriorating situation in the area was such political backing: “Gangsters could not be tackled till removal of political umbrella.”

Moreover, the ‘targeted action’ in Karachi is turning out to be more of a clampdown on political rivals than a focused Operation against criminals and terrorists. Thus, in one of the most controversial raids, on March 13, 2015, a heavy contingent of Rangers raided Nine Zero, the headquarters of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), in the Azizabad neighbourhood of Gulberg Town.  A number of party workers, including Rabita Committee member Amir Khan, were detained. The operation was exclusively managed and executed by the Rangers, with no Police presence. Rangers’ spokesperson Colonel Tahir revealed that ammunition stolen from NATO containers was among materials seized during the search operation at the MQM headquarters. During the raid, the Rangers killed MQM Central Information Committee office bearer Waqas Ali Shah.  

In another development, MQM leader Farooq Sattar’s coordinator Aftab Ahmed Hussain (42), who was under Rangers’ 90–day preventive detention “for no reason”, died in the Rangers’ custody on May 3, 2016. A special Anti-Terrorism Court had sent Hussain to 90 days preventive detention on May 2, 2016. Speaking at Ahmed’s funeral, Sattar disclosed that Ahmed had been picked by Rangers from his home in Karachi’s Federal B Area on May 1, 2016, while he was with his family, even though there was no case registered against him at any Police Station. The pictures and video clips of the dead body revealed wounds that suggest he was brutally tortured to death.

Though, the paramilitary force denied the charges and maintained that Ahmed died due to heart attack, Ahmed’s post-mortem report after a 90 minute long autopsy stated that he was “subject to torture before his death with around 35 to 40 per cent of his body bearing bruises”. Sattar, while commenting on Ahmed’s autopsy report, claimed that “around 3,000 of “our workers bear torture marks on their bodies. It is the responsibility of the law enforcement agencies to expose such black sheep amongst them and get rid of them.” He urged the Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) General Raheel Sharif to “take notice of the 65 other ‘missing’ party workers who are in the custody of law enforcement agencies but have not been produced in courts.”

In another series of developments, Sindh Rangers reportedly arrested Uzair Baloch, leader of the Lyari gang and chief of the proscribed People’s Amn Committee (PAC), in a ‘targeted action’ purportedly on the outskirts of Karachi, on January 30, 2016. Rangers claimed they arrested Baloch while he was attempting to enter the city, according to a Press Release issued by the paramilitary force. His family members, however, asserted that Baloch was arrested by Interpol at the boarding lounge of Dubai Airport on December 27, 2014, and the SFs, after keeping him in illegal detention since, declared his arrest on January 30, 2016. Baloch reportedly fled Karachi soon after the launch of the ‘targeted action’ in September 2013. It has been alleged that Baloch worked under the patronage of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). The Sindh Government had banned PAC in April 2012 and announced a bounty of PKR two million on Baloch.

Significantly, the HRCP Annual Report for 2015 observed that, despite a marked decrease in overall violence in the metropolis, “a few steps taken to restore law and order have instead left a broad trail of human rights violations". Expressing concerns over rising cases of extrajudicial killings in the metropolis, HRCP Sindh Vice Chairperson Asad Iqbal Butt argued that the accused must be presented before the courts of law if there were any charges against them, as ‘murdering’ them extra judicially would only pave way for anarchy. Quoting the Provincial Police Chief, he said that 1,800 accused were killed in Police encounters; however, only 500 of them were reported in media: “It indicates that the data was tampered by some invisible hands.”

Meanwhile, on May 3, 2016, Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah called for the extension of “unconditional” Special Powers of the paramilitary Rangers from May 4, 2016 till July 19, 2016. The Force has been exercising Special Powers since September 2013. According to the granted powers, Rangers have the right to investigate, question and prosecute the suspects involved in extortion, terrorism, kidnappings and target killings. They are also allowed to seal exit/entry points and conduct searches in all Districts of Karachi.

Nevertheless, there has been a sharp decline in terrorism-related fatalities in Karachi. Way back in 2011, Karachi recorded a total of 1,211 fatalities which increased to 1,530 in 2012 and further to 1,625 in 2013. Terrorism-related killings began to decline in 2014, with a total of 1,135 fatalities, and sharply through 2015, when they fell to 640. In the current year, 117 fatalities have been recorded thus far as against 287 in the corresponding period of 2015.

While Karachi has recorded a significant reduction in violence a transparent mechanism to ensure accountability at all levels, remains absent, and law enforcement agencies appear significantly politicized. The controversial targeted operation has further complicated the law and order situation in this city of crimes, which has long been infested by politically-motivated and backed turf wars, target killings, criminal gangsters, land grabbers, organized gangs of extortionists, ethnic strife, and religiously motivated Islamist terrorist violence. With the law enforcement agencies acting in a selective and partisan manner, sustainable peace and security remain elusive.

Civilians

Security Force Personnel

Terrorists/Insurgents

Total

BANGLADESH

Islamist Terrorism

INDIA

Jammu and Kashmir

Left-Wing Extremism

Andhra Pradesh

Chhattisgarh

Total (INDIA)

PAKISTAN

KP

Punjab

Sindh

Total (PAKISTAN)