INDIA
PAKISTAN
NEPAL
BHUTAN
BANGLADESH
SRI LANKA
Terrorism Update
Latest
S.A.Overview
Publication
Show/Hide Search
HomePrint
 
  Click to Enlarge
   

SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 8, No. 23, December 14, 2009

Data and assessments from SAIR can be freely published in any form with credit to the South Asia Intelligence Review of the
South Asia Terrorism Portal


ASSESSMENT


INDIA
Click for PrintPrint

Andhra Pradesh: Maoist Free Fall
Fakir Mohan Pradhan
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management

For decades, Andhra Pradesh (AP) was one of the States worst affected by Maoist violence, and even today provides the largest number and most prominent among the Naxalite (Left Wing Extremist, LWE) leadership. In 2009, not a single Security Force (SF) personnel was killed in the State, and total fatalities were down to just 26, including eight civilians, in a national total of 951 for the year, counting 299 SFs and 366 civilians among them. Unsurprisingly, Mupalla Laxman Rao aka Ganapathi, the ‘general secretary’ and ‘supreme commander’ of the Communist Party of India – Maoist (CPI-Maoist), in a media interview, conceded that the Maoists had suffered "a serious setback" in Andhra Pradesh.

LWE related fatalities: 2004-2009

Year
Incidents
Civilians killed
SFs killed
Extremists killed
Total Fatalities
2004
310
68
06
47
121
2005
535
186
22
161
369
2006
183
37
10
133
180
2007
138
43
02
45
90
2008*
94
45
01
36
82
2009**
35
8
0
18
26
Source: 2004-2007- Union Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India
*Data 2008- Andhra Pradesh Police
** Data 2009- South Asia Terrorism Portal (Till December 13, 2009)

According to the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) database, the sharply declining trend in Maoist violence continued through 2009, with overall LWE fatalities declining by 70 per cent from the previous year, while incidents related to Maoist activity decreased by nearly 62 percent. Civilian fatalities dropped 82 per cent. Significantly, in an index of the near total dominance of the SFs, Maoist fatalities also dropped nearly 50 per cent, indicating that the rebels were no longer engaging with the Police and Paramilitary Forces. This trend has been steadily consolidated since 2006, when the Andhra Pradesh Police began intensive campaigns against what was then a rampaging movement in the State. According to the SATP database, there have been just two major incidents (involving three or more fatalities) in Maoist-related violence in 2009, both relating to casualties suffered by Maoists. These were:

December 2: Three cadres of the CPI-Maoist were killed in an encounter with a special party of Policemen in the forest near Kallegaon-Pittaguda under Kerameri Police Station limits of Adilabad District. Two of those killed were identified as Mylarapu Adellu alias Bhaskar alias Narsanna, the CPI-Maoist Adilabad ‘District Committee Secretary’ (DCS) and Chippakurthi Ravi alias Sudershan, a District Committee member. Some 10 others managed to escape.

January 20: Three cadres of the CPI-Maoist, including a woman, were killed in an encounter which lasted for about half-an-hour, during combing operations launched by the Police in the Aberupadu forests area of Visakhapatnam District.

Though Maoist activities were reported from 10 of the 25 Districts in AP, the bulk of incidents were reported from Khammam, Visakhapatnam, Warangal and Adilabad. Significantly, not a single ‘swarming attack’, involving large numbers of ‘people’s militia’, was even attempted in the State in 2009.

The State Police inflicted further and serious damage on the crumbling Maoist leadership structures in AP. Two senior Maoist leaders, identified as Patel Sudhakar Reddy aka Suryam aka Srikanth and Kanugula Venkataiah, were killed during an encounter at the Gaurappa Hillocks near Lavvala village in the thick Tadvai forest area in Warangal District on May 24, 2009. While Reddy was a Central Committee member, Venkataiah was a member of the State Committee for AP and also a member of its ‘technical wing’. Further, the Warangal District’s ‘action team commander' Manthani Raju aka Daya, with a reward of INR 500,000 for his capture or neutralization, was killed in an encounter with the Police in the Kodavatancha village on October 31. Separately, the ‘State secretary’ of the Praja Pratighatana faction of the Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist (CPI-ML-Praja Pratighatana), Sudhakar aka Ashok, was killed in an encounter with the Police in the Eturunagaram Forests near Bhupathipur village in Warangal District on July 1, 2009.

Some Maoist leaders were also arrested during the period. Nagella Chandra Kala aka Swarnakka, the ‘commander’ of the Maoist ‘action team’ in Mahabubnagar, and Nallakasula Alivelumanga aka Sudha, the Bhopal-based central technical committee member, were arrested on February 1. A Maoist ‘commander’ identified as Bisetti Maheswara Rao aka Venu aka Raghava, was arrested from the Vizianagaram District on February 24, and Rachakonda area committee ‘commander’ T. Yadaiah aka Kranthi, was arrested along with eight cadres from Nalgonda District on March 24. On October 9, seven cadres of the CPI-Maoist, including a 'deputy commander', one armed militia 'commander' and a 'platoon member', were arrested by Khammam District Police.

Arrests were compounded by a number of surrenders, with at least 44 Maoists laying down arms before the Police during the year. The surrendered cadres included at least one State Committee member, one Special Zonal Committee member, one north Telengana Zonal Committee member, four area committee members, two commanders, two deputy commanders, and several dalam (armed squad) members among others.

The Andhra Pradesh Home Minister K. Jana Reddy, on May 4, claimed that not more than 150-160 CPI-Maoist cadres could be present in the State. However, some media reports, citing unidentified Police sources, suggested that the surviving strength of extremists in the State could include as many as 460 cadres.

The State Police has not, however, lapsed into complacence, despite the continuous string of successes, and has striven to keep the pressure on the Maoists. Indeed, nearly all intelligence leading up to the arrest of the top five Maoist functionaries – Ravi Sharma, B. Anuradha, Motillal Soren, Amit Bagchi and Kobad Ghandy – from different locations of the country, and the killing of Patel Sudhakar Reddy, was provided by the AP Police special Naxal tracking cell in the State’s Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau. "Their intelligence is at least 15 years ahead of ours. Even after driving the Maoists out from their State, they have kept it (their intelligence system) alive and kicking, which is helping us with some vital and timely inputs," a senior Chhattisgarh Police official conceded. The Union Government has reportedly asked States like Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Orissa to model their Intelligence cells on those in Andhra Pradesh.

Despite the Maoist admission of reverses due to ‘several mistakes’, it is clear that the rebels have not given up. Ganapathy clarified that, "in any protracted people’s war, there will be advances and retreats. If we look at the situation in Andhra Pradesh from this perspective, you will understand that what we did there is a kind of retreat. Confronted with a superior force, we chose to temporarily retreat our forces from some regions of Andhra Pradesh, extend and develop our bases in the surrounding regions and then hit back at the enemy."

Underlining the Maoist strategic and tactical perspectives was a surge in Maoists activities in AP towards the end of 2009. Two Congress activists were killed by the rebels in Warangal District in October 2009, and Director-General of Police (DGP) R. R. Girish Kumar, on October 19, admitted to "some spurt" in Maoists activities. He, however, insisted that the State Police were taking "adequate steps" to meet the threat. On November 5, moreover, Karimnagar Superintendent of Police N. Shiva Shankar Reddy, stated that the Police had secured credible information relating to intrusions by the Maoists into the Districts along the borders with Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Orissa, following massive combing operations in those States. Tushar Aditya Tripathi, the newly appointed Inspector General of Police (IGP) for the Andhra Region admitted on November 11 that the number of Maoist Grama Rakshaka Dalams [Village Defence Squad, GRDs) in the State had increased in the recent months. Asked about the east division, Tripathi said that there were five GRDs in Maredumilli. GRDs had also been formed in Sileru and other areas bordering Visakhapatnam District. He said the Maoists had divided the Andhra-Orissa Border (AoB) and adjacent areas into three jurisdictions – East Godavari-Visakhapatnam, Koraput and Srikakulam.

There were reports that nearly 70 ‘action team’ members had sneaked into the North Telangana Districts. Sources said CPI-Maoist cadres, in league with members of the CPI-ML-Janashakthi group, were trying to regroup and to take the movement forward in Nizamabad, Karimnagar and Warangal Districts. "The Maoists are visiting interior villages to meet sympathisers, while Janashakthi leaders are holding meetings with beedi (Indian cigar) workers and women’s group members," a source stated. A media report dated October 25, 2009, citing unnamed ‘highly placed sources’, claimed that the Maoists were planning to restore lost dominance in the North Telangana region by launching agitations against open-cast mines under Singareni Collieries, an issue that likely enjoys significant local support. To this end, the extremist party has reactivated its frontal organisation, the Singareni Karmika Samakya (Sikasa), which has a strong presence among the coal miners.

The Maoists also continue to attempt to harvest various issues to secure mobilisation among rural masses. Thus, in Yathnaram village of Mahamutharam mandal, the Maoists left three notes at the site of the killing of a former Prathigatana dalam ‘commander’, Ramlal, on October 11. In one letter, the Maoists stated that they had killed Ramlal because he was acting as a Police informer. In a second, they demanded that the Government declare the region drought affected and provide an assured 10-hour power supply to the farm sector. They also demanded that the Government distribute 50 kilograms of rice and a pension of INR 1,000 for each family in the wake of drought; a fee waiver for students and free distribution of books. In the third letter, the Maoists took up the cause of environmental protection and warned poachers of ‘serious action’ if they kill wild animals by laying live electric wire fencing in the forests and in fields abutting forests in the interior villages. The letters were jointly signed by the Maoists and various front organisations, including the Viplava Rythu Coolie Sangham (VRCS) and Viplava Mahila Sangham (VMS), which work among unorganised labourers and women. The Police sources believe that the Maoists have slowly strengthened their cadre in rural and urban areas through various ‘sub-committees’ tasked with mobilisation of target groups.

The Maoists are also believed to have infiltrated the agitation for a separate Telengana State. Inspector-General of Police A. R. Anuradha, the State Police spokesman, disclosed, "We have received Intelligence reports that the movement has gone out of the students’ hands and those Maoists and other professional agitators are moving in. Given such a situation, we do not wish to take any chance with law and order problem. The Maoists already are believed to be in Dandakaranya."

Mindful of the problem, the State DGP has declared that the State Police will not allow the Maoists to regain lost ground. On October 30, the DGP said that the Government had sanctioned about 45,000 Police personnel for the State during the last few years. The first batch of 15,000 Policemen were expected to be inducted into the force by November 2009.

Despite their fervent efforts to regroup, the Maoists retain a mere shadow of their pre-2006 presence in Andhra Pradesh. It remains to be seen whether lacunae in development and governance will give them the handle to pull their ‘revolution’ out of oblivion in the State again.

INDIA
Click for PrintPrint
Bihar: Unremitting Rampage
Ajit Kumar Singh
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management

Despite great optimism and a great enthusiasm unleashed by a number of initiatives across a wide spectrum of policies by Chief Minister Nitesh Kumar’s Government – after decades of disastrous mismanagement under predecessor regimes, security and Communist Party of India-Maoist (Maoist) activities remain acute concerns in the State. With 72 fatalities in 2009 [South Asia Terrorism Portal data till December 13], the level of Left Wing Extremism (LWE) violence has remained at almost the same level as 2008, which accounted for 71 fatalities. Civilian fatalities saw a marginal decline, but this was cancelled out by the increase in the number of Security Forces (SFs) killed. The total number of incidents recorded also demonstrated a visible increase – with 143 in 2009 as compared to 114 in 2008.

LWE related fatalities: 2004-2009

Year
Civilians
SFs
Naxalites
Total
2004
24
6
3
33
2005
25
29
52
106
2006
16
5
19
40
2007
23
21
5
49
2008
35
21
15
71
2009*
31
25
16
72
*Data Till December 13, 2009
Source: South Asia Terrorism Portal Database

The highest number of incidents were reported from Gaya District (38), followed by Aurangabad (23) and Rohtas (10). It was, however, Khagaria District which accounted for the largest number of fatalities (16), followed by Rohtas (12) and Nawada (10). While at least one incident was reported from 23 out of the 38 Districts in the State, fatalities were registered in 12 Districts.

The major incidents (in which three or more fatalities resulted) of LWE related violence in Bihar through 2009 included:

February 9: At least 10 Policemen, including some from the Special Auxiliary Police (SAP), were killed when more than 150 armed Maoist cadres launched a surprise attack on the SF personnel who were providing security at a function at Ravidas Ashram in the Mahuliatand village of Nawada District. One injured Policeman also died later.

March 9: Suspected cadres of the CPI-Maoist killed two women and two children of a family by slitting their throats in connection with a land dispute case at Pachubigha village in the Arwal District.

March 16: In retaliation to the lynching of a CPI-Maoist ‘commander’ on March 11, armed Maoists raided Khaira village in the Lakhisarai District and shot three men dead and injured two women.

April 23: Four SF personnel and a civilian were killed in a landmine explosion triggered by the CPI-Maoist near Karpoori Chowk in the Mohabbatpur village of Muzaffarpur District. A civilian driver also sustained serious injuries in the blast.

August 22: Four Police personnel, including an Assistant Sub-Inspector, were killed while two others sustained injuries when Maoists attacked them at a place under Sono Police Station in the Jamui District.

October 1-2: 16 civilians, including five children, were shot dead by suspected CPI-Maoist cadres at Amosi Bharen Diara village in the Khagaria District late in the night of October 1.

December 7: Three persons were killed and many others wounded by CPI-Maoist cadres in the Sheohar District.

Replying on behalf of the State Government in the Legislative Assembly on July 30, Energy Minister Vijendra Yadav disclosed that, according to figures compiled by the Bihar Police, 137 Policemen lost their lives in violence perpetrated by the CPI-Maoist between January 1, 2003, and May 31, 2009. He also said that 197 rifles and 6,342 rounds of ammunition were looted by the Maoists at different places in Bihar during this period.

The Maoists have also carried out acts of economic subversion targeting State, public and private properties. As many as 30 incidents of destruction of property were reported in 2009, including several in which tractors and construction machinery required for constructing buildings, bridges and roads, were destroyed. Railway tracks, school buildings and Government offices have also been blown up on several occasions. In one such incident on September 2, about 60-armed cadres of the CPI-Maoist attacked the base office of SPML Road Construction Company under Chandramandi outpost of Chakai Police Station, about 40 kilometres from the headquarters of Jamui District, damaged payloaders and three trucks, set ablaze six vans and damaged the store where construction materials were kept. In another incident, the Maoists set ablaze a Railways office at Banshipur Station of Lakhisarai District on October 12 and destroyed the Railway panel room and traffic control system. The Maoists also targeted mobile phone towers in 13 separate incidents, as they believe that the communication network was frequently used by security agencies and their informers. 14 mobile towers of BSNL, Airtel and Reliance telecommunications had been blown up by the insurgents in the Aurangabad, Gaya, Arwal and Rohtas Districts in 2008, according to Bihar Police data. The Maoists also called for 24-hour bandhs (general strike) on at least 10 occasions, adversely affecting economic activity in the State.

Extortion and looting by the Maoists remained endemic in Bihar, undermining developmental works as well as the law-and-order situation. On July 29, suspected CPI-Maoist cadres shot dead a panchayat (village-level local self Government institution) head in the Muzaffarpur District as he refused to pay a ‘levy’ to the extremists. Earlier, on February 22, the armed cadres of the CPI-Maoist ransacked a village and later killed the village headman, identified as Neeraj Kumar Mukul, after dragging him out of his house in the Rohua Panchayat under Shyampur Vatha Police Station of Sheohar District. The Maoists are said to have a strong cadre base in at least 50 villages of this area and regularly collect money from extortion, the fake currency racket, as well as ‘donations’ from villagers to run their operation. In last five years, more than 12 village headmen have been killed in the area. Extortion from various businesses is also widespread. Thus, for instance, Amarendra Kumar Bhagat aka Amar Ji Bhagat, a Maoist cadre arrested in the night of November 20 from Jagdishpur Dhano village under Paru Police Station in the Muzaffarpur District, revealed that he was in charge of collecting INR 100,000 per month as ‘levy’ from road construction contractor Chadda & Chadda.

Opium cultivation is another source of Maoist revenue. On March 3, the SFs destroyed a large quantity of opium in the CPI-Maoist dominated Sankhwa village of Gaya District. "We got information that there is a huge quantity of opium growing in this field... We found around 10 acres under opium cultivation. The entire village has been vacated. People have left their houses. We are trying to find out the persons behind this opium cultivation," Jay Prakash Pandit, a Police official in Barachatti, disclosed. Police suspect Maoist involvement.

Demonstrating their strong presence in the Gaya District on February 26, about 50 armed CPI-Maoist cadres held a Jan Adalat (People’s Court) in the Banke Bazaar area in the presence of the heads of five village panchayats, who hailed the 'effort' of the Maoists by raising pro-extremist slogans. Reports also claimed that the Maoists were regularly holding Jan Adalats at gun point in the District.

Vexed by the spread of the Maoist menace, the Bihar Government sought the inclusion of an additional four Maoist insurgency-affected Districts under the Security Related Expenditure (SRE) scheme, in addition to 15 (out of a total of 38) revenue districts already covered by the scheme, the then Inspector General of Police (IGP) Operations, S. K. Bharadwaj had disclosed on August 21. The four Districts are Lakhisarai, Munger, Buxar and Sheikhpura. The Centre has, however, decided only to cover Munger, Bharadwaj added. Under the SRE scheme, the expenditure incurred on security is reimbursed by the Centre.

The SFs, meanwhile, made some efforts to halt the Maoists progress. On April 15, 11 CPI-Maoist cadres were killed and one Border Security Force (BSF) trooper was injured during a seven hour-long encounter at Dhansa Ghati in the Rohtas District. The encounter occurred when more than 150 armed CPI-Maoist cadres surrounded the BSF camp and opened fire.

In addition, the SFs recovered large caches of arms and ammunition from the Maoists from different places on as many as 15 occasions, significantly impacting their arsenal. In the month of November 2009, Patna Police seized huge consignments of explosives and chemicals. Police seized 900 kilograms of explosives – 600 kilograms on November 8 and 300 kilograms on November 7 – as well as 18 bags of explosives powder on November 8, from a house in a residential locality in Bhootnath Road. Besides, 300 bottles of chemicals for preparing Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), 7,221 live cartridges, 50 detonators, parts for making 14 carbines, and Maoist literature were also seized. Police suspect that the consignment was to be supplied to Maoists in Bihar and Jharkhand. Patna Police also arrested Subodh Singh, who was wanted in connection with the recovery of a haul of explosives besides rifles and cartridges from Patna and Gaya in Bihar, and from Ranchi, Hazaribgah and Bokaro in Jharkhand, during successive raids in November. Over 250 cartridges made in China and Pakistan was found concealed under the seat of an Ambassador car seized from Subodh’s transport agency.

That the Maoists in Bihar were in constant touch with the Maoists in other States was once again established by the interrogation of four persons who were arrested in Rohtas following the seizure of a large quantity of ammonium nitrate. According to a November 23 report, the arrestees revealed that huge quantities of explosives seized by the Bihar Police from different parts of Bihar and Jharkhand had mostly been pushed in from Avadi in Pune (Maharashtra) and Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh. The recoveries, meanwhile, also revealed that the Maoists were receiving arms and ammunition from across the border. A November 15 report quoted a senior Special Task Force officer saying that Chinese hand-grenades covered in polythene bags were also made available to the insurgents in large quantity. Besides, the Maoists were in possession of hundreds of pistols made in China and even in Pakistan. Chinese hand-grenades that look like "peeled coconuts" were among some of the seizures in Patna, Gaya and Bokaro in November, another report said. Guns made in Bihar’s Munger District, a centre of illegal arms factories for three decades, are also suspected to have reached Maoists.

Following the major seizures of arms and explosives, the CPI-Maoist threatened to carry out bloody reprisals against the kin of officers, ministers and politicians. A two-page statement issued on November 18 in the name of Gopal, spokesperson of the Bihar-Jharkhand-Orissa and Chhattisgarh Special Area Committee of the CPI-Maoist, said the arms and explosives seized by the Police were all basically meant to "protect the defenceless people against the fresh wave of State repression". The CPI-Maoist warned, "if Police feel elated at the recent seizures, they should also prepare themselves mentally to shed tears sooner than expected". Earlier, on November 11, the Patna Police shifted the Gaurichak Police Station, which was located in a remote area, to a community hall adjacent to the National Highway, for security reasons. According to official sources at Police Headquarters in Patna, the Police Station was shifted following intelligence reports warning that Police Stations situated in deserted places could be attacked by the Maoists.

Nevertheless, the successful drive by the SFs against the Maoists resulted in the arrest of at least 117 Maoists, including two ‘zonal commanders’ and seven ‘area commanders’, in the State in 2009, giving some respite to the SFs. On February 25, a senior CPI-Maoist commander and central committee member, identified as Satyendra Kushwaha alias Naresh alias Dadan, was arrested by Police from the Dalmianagar area of Rohtas District. Satyendra, the Songanga-Vindhyachal ‘zonal commander’ of the outfit and in-charge of Rohtas, Bhojpur, Kaimur and Buxar Districts, was wanted in several cases of violence, including the 2005 Jehanabad jailbreak, the killing of Police personnel in encounters and landmine blasts. He was also operating in the Mirzapur, Chandauli and Sonbhadra Districts of Uttar Pradesh and Garhwa District of Jharkhand. According to a December 10 report, two Maoist leaders wanted in both Bihar and Jharkhand for the last two years, were arrested in Jamalpur by the Munger Police. "Chetlal is a veteran guerrilla and head of the CPI-Maoist’s clandestine ‘arms procurement and supply committee’. Kundan is his accomplice and also a guerrilla trained in armed warfare," Munger Superintendent of Police M. Sunil Nayak revealed.

However, in a setback to the Police, on June 23, 2009, CPI-Maoist cadres ambushed a Police team at a court premises in the Lakhisarai District and freed Misir Besra, a member of the Maoist Central Military Commission (CMC) and Politburo, after killing a Policeman and hurling bombs to scare away people. The District Development Commissioner, Rajiv Ranjan, who was sitting in his office adjacent to the court complex, sustained splinter injuries as bombs were hurled freely by nearly 30 Maoists who entered the court premises on motorcycles. The ambush of the Police team took place when Besra was being taken out of court. The Maoists also snatched a carbine and two rifles from the Police escort team. Earlier, on January 16, three CPI-Maoist cadres, along with eight under-trial prisoners, escaped from the Jammui District Civil Court premises, while they were being brought to the Court for regular production. A group of 50 Maoists waiting in the Court premises attacked the Police party by throwing chilly powder. They also exploded bombs as the Policemen tried to stop them. Three Police personnel sustained injuries. In the ensuing chaos, three Maoists, identified as Sunil Baitha, Paresh Hembram and Vivek Yadav, escaped from Police custody.

On February 11, three cadres of the former Maoist Communist Centre, which merged into the CPI-Maoist, identified as Vyas Kahar, Naresh Paswan and Yugal Mochi, were sentenced to death, while another three, identified as Tyagi Mahto, Vijay Yadav and Madhusudan Sharma, were acquitted by a TADA court in Gaya for the massacre of 35 persons at Bara village in the Gaya District. The MCC's armed cadres brought the 35 persons from Bara to the bank of a nearby canal, tied their hands and slit their throats on February 12, 1992. Earlier, in 2001, a TADA court had sentenced another four MCC cadres to death in the same case. The Judicial action has given a boost to public confidence in the depleted Police force. The Police need a tremendous infusion of capacities (both in terms of men and material) within a clearly defined time frame.

According to National Crime Records Bureau data (as on December 31, 2007), Bihar had a dismal 60 Policemen per 100,000 population, the lowest in the country, well below the severely inadequate Indian average of 125 per 100,000. Worse, this figure represented sanctioned posts, and there was a 33.06 per cent gap between actual and sanctioned Police strength in the State. Four Battalions of Central Paramilitary Forces (CPMF) are also deployed in the State, but this yields barely 1,600 CPMF personnel in actual field deployments, a minuscule number for the State as large, and as problematic, as Bihar.

Increasingly focusing on recruitment to and modernisation of the Police, the Bihar Government appears to have initiated some positive moves. In a significant development, the Bihar Government sent a proposal to Centre to set up four Counter-Insurgency and Anti-Terrorism Schools (CIATS) in the State. On October 27, the Union Government sanctioned four schools to teach jungle warfare techniques to Bihar Police personnel. These schools were expected to become functional by end December 2009. The Union Government is also to launch a programme in collaboration with the Bihar Government for creating special infrastructure, including the strengthening of Police stations and posts, and the construction of roads and helipads, in the insurgency-affected Districts. The programme would be launched in the Gaya and Aurangabad Districts, to begin with. The programme is to be extended to Arwal, Jehanabad, Jamui, Rohtas, Bhojpur, East Champaran, West Champaran, Kaimur, Nalanda, Nawada, Patna and Sitamarhi Districts in the next phase.

The Bihar Government is revising its existing surrender and rehabilitation policy for the Maoists to make it more attractive to insurgents from the CPI-Maoist to lay down arms and ‘join the mainstream’, Police officials said on October 16. Officials said the Government felt the growing need to revise its surrender policy following an alarming rise in incidents of Maoist violence in the recent months. The existing surrender policy provides for a financial support of INR 200,000 and additional payment of INR 100,000 if militants surrender with arms. It also provides for a monthly stipend of INR 3,000 and free education to children, but this has failed to attract significant numbers of Maoists so far. Over the past four years, since this policy came into being, less than 200 Maoists have surrendered in Bihar. The existing policy, official sources said, was a particular failure in attracting Maoists in their strongholds in Jehanabad, Gaya, Aurangabad and Jamui. Statistics indicate that, while 74 Maoists surrendered in 2005, the figure came down to 21 in 2006. The years 2007 and 2008 registered just another 21 and 29 surrenders, respectively, and till March 2009 only two Maoists had surrendered. However, 15 CPI-Maoist cadres, involved in the killing of a Police officer and looting of firearms from Police Stations, surrendered in Rohtas District on October 30.

On October 19, 2009, Bihar IG (Operations) K. S. Dwivedi stated that operations against the Maoists would intensify, while tougher laws would be applied against those in custody. "We have enforced the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against ultras, ensuring five years’ jail for them. We will soon enforce Section 121 (waging war against the state) of the Indian Penal Code against them. They may well face sedition charges," Dwivedi asserted. He added that Police were treating the Maoists as hardcore criminals and had been pressing for speedy trials against them. Of 274 Maoists facing trials since 2007, 10 have been awarded death sentences and another 22 have received life sentences in the State, Dwivedi disclosed. He also sought at least 20 extra battalions of the Central Paramilitary Forces (CPMFs) for anti-Maoist operations. At present, a 400-member Special Task Force, 23 companies of the Central Reserve Police Force, 16 Bihar Military Police battalions and 7,000 Special Auxiliary Police personnel, besides the usual Police forces, are tackling Maoists in the State.

These are, without doubt, significant initiatives. However, they are far from securing the critical mass of capacities necessary to deal with the magnitude of the Maoist threat in the State. The October massacre at Khagaria is a reminder of the tremendous distance that remains to be travelled in the battle against LWE in the State. Unfortunately, there is still a proclivity in the political leadership to pass the buck and dilute the responsibility of the State Government. Thus, on October 13, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar stated, "Naxalism was not only the problem of a particular State, but also of society as a whole." Police action, he said, "formed only a limited part" of society’s response to the menace: "Naxalism is a problem that has to be dealt with jointly by the community, the State and Central Governments acting in harmonious coordination… We will saturate the Naxal-prone areas with development."

With State Assembly Election due in 2010, the regime of political obfuscation and ambivalence will tend to intensify, even as Maoist activities build up to influence and distort the electoral outcome. The people of Bihar will have to wait for far more effective governance before they can consider themselves secure from the depredations of lawless groups, including the Maoists, who have long dominated the State.


NEWS BRIEFS

Weekly Fatalities: Major Conflicts in South Asia
December 7-13, 2009

 

Civilian

Security Force Personnel

Terrorist/Insurgent

Total

BANGLADESH

 

Left-wing Extremism

0
0
3
3

INDIA

 

Assam

7
0
4
11

Jammu and Kashmir

1
0
0
1

Manipur

0
0
3
3

Nagaland

0
0
1
1

Left-wing Extremism

 

Andhra Pradesh

1
0
1
2

Bihar

3
0
0
3

Chhattisgarh

3
0
7
10

Jharkhand

0
2
2
4

Uttar Pradesh

1
0
0
1

West Bengal

10
0
0
10

Total (INDIA)

26
2
18
46

PAKISTAN

 

FATA

5
3
61
69

NWFP

11
2
8
21

Punjab

55
0
5
60

Total (PAKISTAN)

71
5
74
150
Provisional data compiled from English language media sources.


INDIA

More Mumbai-like attacks likely, warns former US Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff: Top United States (US) security expert and former Secretary of Homeland Security, the Department that was created after 9/11, said on December 7 that more Mumbai-like attacks were likely to happen in the future, and that the challenge before India was to integrate fully all elements of domestic security for dealing with terrorism. "In Mumbai attacks we have seen evolving the tactic of using weapons and bombs together in a commando like operation and how dangerous such an attack could be. Such attacks are likely to happen more and the challenge before everybody is to be able to deal with them," said Chertoff, while delivering a lecture on terrorism and the threat to India. Times of India, December 8, 2009.

Bangladesh terrorist outfit plans to target Mumbai, say intelligence sources: Intelligence agencies are working on inputs that Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) militants may be in Mumbai and Hyderabad to work on terror plots in these two cities. The JMB, officials said, had been facing problems ever since the change of Government in Bangladesh. "The Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League has shown much greater sensitivity to India's concerns than the previous Bangladesh Nationalist Party Government of Begum Khaleda Zia. Reports here indicate that the JMB is trying to expand operations to western and southern India because it is under intense pressure in its homeland," a senior Home department official said.

Meanwhile, security agencies have also received intelligence inputs that some JMB militants have been pushed into Sri Lanka, from where they plan to enter India by sea. "Increased surveillance and cooperation by Indian and Bangladeshi forces along the border is forcing them to look for other routes to enter India," an official said. The Intelligence Bureau, in an alert, has said at least 30 suspected JMB militants had reached the Negombo area in Sri Lanka and were being assisted by narco-peddler Jaleel alias Ravi. Times of India, December 10, 2009.

Naga groups reject "conditional political package" from Union Government:The Joint Working Group (JWG) formed by the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM), National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K) and the Naga National Council, on December 9, said it would not accept any "conditional political package" from the Union Government. The report adds that the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had earlier said it would offer a set of political proposals to the Naga groups by the end of December to form the basis of future peace talks for an acceptable and honourable settlement to the vexed political conflict. "To clarify doubts arising out of recent statements made by the Government of India, the JWG hereby recommit ourselves to uphold, respect and honour the principles of a joint declaration signed on September 28 in which we jointly reject any form of conditional package offered to the Nagas by the Centre," a JWG statement said. Assam Tribune, December 10, 2009.


NEPAL

Maoists declare Limbuwan and Kochila autonomous States: Notwithstanding extensive national and international concerns, the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (Unified CPN-Maoist) declared autonomous Kochila and Laimbuwan States on December 11. The Unified CPN-Maoist made the announcement as part of its third phase protest. The Maoists declared Kochila State by lighting candles amid a function organised at Birtamod in Jhapa District where the party central leaders Netra Bikram Chand and Haribol Gajurel were also present. The Kochila State includes Jhapa, Morang and Sunsari Districts. Likewise, it also declared Limbuwan autonomous State at Myaglung of Terhathum District under the leadership of party central leader Suresh Ale Magar on the first day of its autonomous States declaration. Leader Magar said border of the Limbuwan State, however, has not been delineated. He also said the border of the State would be finalised later after border discussion within the party. He warned that the Maoists would declare parallel Government if the Government failed to address their demands by December 22. Further, Unified CPN-Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal alias Prachanda accused that the Government is bent on killing some Maoist leaders. Kantipur Online, December 12, 2009.


PAKISTAN

61 militants and five civilians among 69 persons killed during the week in FATA: Seven Taliban militants were killed as skirmishes between the Security Forces (SFs) and insurgents continued in the Kurram tribal region of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on December 13, military and intelligence sources said. Two soldiers also died in the fighting, officials said.

At least 10 Taliban militants, including a ‘commander’ wanted by Police in several incidents of sabotage and insurgency, were killed during the military operation in Kurram Agency on December 12. In addition, 10 militants were killed while more than 150 suspects arrested in Bara tehsil (revenue division) of Khyber Agency.

The SFs killed at least 17 Taliban militants in the ongoing military operations in FATA. In Orakzai Agency, nine Taliban militants, including a local Taliban ‘commander’, Bacha Akbar, were killed. In addition, seven militants were killed and 20 others injured when troops clashed with the Lashkar-e-Islam in the Shalobar area of Bara tehsil in the Khyber Agency.

On December 10, the SFs killed 15 Taliban militants in ongoing operations in Khyber Agency and South Waziristan Agency. The SFs targeted militant hideouts in the Bara tehsil of Khyber, killing 10 militants in the Zava area of Tirah valley, official sources said. Also, the SFs killed five militants, while a trooper was killed in the clashes in South Waziristan.

Three Taliban militants were killed in the military operation in the Bajaur Agency on December 9. The militants were killed in clashes between SFs and militants in the Chinar area in Nawagai tehsil.

A US missile strike killed at least three civilians in a village near Mir Ali, a main town in North the Waziristan near the Afghanistan border of FATA on December 8. The official sources also confirmed that the missiles destroyed a car carrying three people.

Eight Taliban militants were killed and several others sustained injuries in different areas of Bajaur Agency on December 7. The official sources added that fighter jets pounded suspected hideouts of insurgents in Kharkay, Gotki, Anga and Banda areas in which four militants were killed and several others injured. Further, three militants were killed when explosives stored in a house went off in the Damadola area in the Mamond sub-division. The house was reportedly being used by militants as their hideout and was completely destroyed in the blast. Dawn; Daily Times; The News, December 8-14, 2009.

11 civilians and 8 militants among 21 persons killed during the week in NWFP: Bonair Khan, a close aide of Sufi Muhammad, was killed with three other associates as they tried to escape from the Army’s Red Fort in Maidan area of Lower Dir in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) on December 12. It has been reported that Bonair Khan had masterminded several suicide bombings, target killings and attacks on Security Forces (SFs) and facilitated the Taliban in various attacks.

SFs killed four Taliban militants and arrested two others in the ongoing military operations in the Swat District on December 11.

In addition, a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a court in Peshawar, the provincial capital of NWFP, killing nine people, including two Policemen, and injuring 50 others on December 7. It was the second suicide attack on a court in the city in three weeks. Dawn; Daily Times; The News, December 8-14, 2009.

Twin bomb blasts kill 45 people in Lahore: Two bomb blasts killed at least 45 people and injured more than 100 others at the crowded Moon Market in Allama Iqbal area of Lahore on December 7. The two bombs exploded 30 seconds apart at 8:45pm (PST). The first blast occurred outside a plaza housing a branch of the Muslim Commercial Bank, while the other outside the Allama Iqbal Town Police Station, situated across the road. The Police and Bomb Disposal Squad personnel on December 8 said that the twin blasts at Moon Market in Allama Iqbal Town of Lahore were suicide attacks. Daily Times, December 8-9, 2009.

Pakistan must help US more against al Qaeda, says US President Barak Obama: Pakistan must cooperate more fully with the United States (US) to help wipe out al Qaeda, the US President Barack Obama said in excerpts of a weekend interview on December 11. In the interview with media, Barack Obama said the tribal militants that straddle the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan were the "epicenter of the violent extremism directed against the West... and the United States." "Ultimately, in order for us to eradicate the problem, to really go after al-Qaeda... we are going to need more cooperation from Pakistan. There is no doubt about that," Barack Obama added. The Jang, December 8, 2009.


SRI LANKA

New Tamil group People’s Liberation Army vows to start a fresh war: A Marxist group of Tamil militants with connections to the Palestinian Liberation Organisation and Cuba is preparing to mount a new insurgency in Sri Lanka. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) was founded in eastern Sri Lanka in August and has vowed to launch attacks against Government and military targets unless its demands for a separate Tamil homeland are met. "This war isn't over yet," Commander Kones, head of the PLA's Eastern District military command, told The Times during a night meeting in a safe house in the east of the country last week. "There has been no solution for Tamils since the destruction of the LTTE [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam] in May. So we have built and organised the PLA and are ready to act soon. Our aim is a democratic socialist liberation of the northeast for a Tamil Eelam [the desired Tamil state]." "We are getting stronger by the day, much stronger than any other group," Kones said, adding, "The day of action is close." Times Online, December 8, 2009.

We want federal solution, says Tamil National Alliance: The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) said on December 8 that a political solution based on federalism was foremost among their conditions for supporting either of the two main candidates at the presidential election. The TNA leader R. Sampanthan has already held negotiations with President Mahinda Rajapakse and General Sarath Fonseka, but the party has not yet to decide on its final stand. Besides, the party, which has 22 Members of Parliament (MPs), has also asked for the speedy resettlement of the displaced civilians, the scaling down of troops stationed in the Jaffna peninsula, the removal of High Security Zones and the withdrawal of plans to set up military camps in the Wanni area.

Suresh Premachandran, the party's MP for the Jaffna District, told Daily Mirror that his party was awaiting responses from the two main presidential hopefuls on their stands regarding a political solution to the ‘Tamil national question’. Premachandran said that neither of them appeared to be clear about his position in this respect. "We want to see what they can offer to the Tamil people in terms of a political solution. There are talks about the 13th Amendment. Nevertheless, it has been implemented sans Police and land powers. So why do they talk about the 13th Amendment?" he asked. Responding to a query about TNA MP M. K. Sivajilingam stressing the need for a common Tamil candidate, Premachandran said that a majority of the members had not been in favour of such an arrangement. "If the two main candidates do not respond positively to our demands, we shall have to look for other alternatives. Anyway most members are not in favour of fielding a common Tamil candidate. Sivajilingam has not discussed this with the party either," he added. Daily Mirror, December 10, 2009.

 


The South Asia Intelligence Review (SAIR) is a weekly service that brings you regular data, assessments and news briefs on terrorism, insurgencies and sub-conventional warfare, on counter-terrorism responses and policies, as well as on related economic, political, and social issues, in the South Asian region.

SAIR is a project of the Institute for Conflict Management and the South Asia Terrorism Portal.

South Asia Intelligence Review [SAIR]

Publisher
K. P. S. Gill

Editor
Dr. Ajai Sahni


A Project of the
Institute For Conflict Management



To receive FREE advance copies of SAIR by email Subscribe.

Recommend South Asia Intelligence Review (SAIR) to a friend.

 

 

 

 

 
Copyright © 2001 SATP. All rights reserved.