From: asianconflictreport <asianconflictreport@yahoo.co.uk>
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Sent: Friday, 26 June, 2009 20:14:23
Subject: [afro-asiareport] INDIA: Communist Party of India (Maoist) newsclippings [26 June 2009]
WEST BENGAL
Security forces reclaim Kadasole in West Midnapore
http://www.hindu. com/thehindu/ holnus/000200906 261780.htm
Goaltore (PTI): Security forces on Friday reclaimed control of Kadasole village to the north of Lalgarh in West Midnapore district from Maoists during the second phase of operations against the naxals who set off two landmine blasts.
Led by CRPF, the troops including jungle warfare expert and personnel of the Indian Reserve Battalion and State Armed Police, who were helped by a helicopter, traded fire for 45 minutes with the Maoists who later fled the village, a senior CRPF officer told PTI.
"There was no casualty and no arrest," the officer said. "The operations for the day is over and Kadasole has been secured. The forces will be stationed here."
The security force launched the operations from Goaltore in the morning, five days after taking control of Lalgarh police station and faced no resistance till Pingboni three km away. The security forces then moved another four km to Kadasole, where they spotted a group of 15 armed Maoists.
The troops came under fire from the Maoists and retaliated with mortars, light machine guns and AK-47s.
The Maoists armed with .22 country-made guns kept firing at the security forces as they fled, he said. A helicopter also arrived and tried to spot the Maoists.
Maoists triggered a landmine blast near a forest at Kadasole, four kms from Pingboni. No one was injured in the explosion. Our main concern were landmines. There were two landmine explosions at Kadasole," the officer said.
Two other landmines, one an IED and another a sophisticated one, were defused near a bridge near Kadasole, he said.
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WEST BENGAL
Forces reinforced, new offensive in the offing?
LALGARH, 25 JUNE: Supporters of the Police Santras Birodhi Public Committee led by Maoist squad leaders were noticed building barricades and taking positions in Pingboni, within one kilometre from Goaltore police station, even as more companies of Central paramlitary forces were deployed in Lalgarh and adjoining areas.
Senior officers indicated that the security forces are planning to resume the offensive against the Maoists to take over three new areas ~ Ramgarh, Goaltore and Pingboni ~ and they are building their strength. Since early this morning, deployment of forces at several strategic locations along the road that passes through Goaltore jungle was noticed. Six more companies of Central forces were also deployed at Goaltore and Sarenga base camps.
A senior officer said that they are expecting strong resistance at Ramgarh and its adjoining areas, as they have been informed that Maoists along with supporters of the PSPBC are building barricades there. He also said that the CRPF is now taking help of the Indian Space Research Organisation to track the movements of the Maoists hiding in the jungles using satellite imagery, as the state police have no Intelligence about the Maoists' movements.
Even after eight days of the forces being deployed, they are yet to establish law and order in a majority of the Maoist-infested villages. Out of 280 villages in Lalgarh, 127 villages are known to be violence-prone areas, but police have reclaimed only three such villages. In Goaltore, more than half the 453 villages are dominated by the Maoists, but police have been able to set up their base camp only in Goaltore town.
Meanwhile, the district administration has sought permission from the Centre to pay the beneficiaries of old age pension scheme and NREGA in cash as the banks in the areas are still closed. Mr NS Nigam, district magistrate, also added that the public distribution system will resume functioning soon. "Some buses plied on several routes in Lalgarh today and we are trying to increase their frequency," he added. ; Sabyasachi Roy
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WEST BENGAL
Lalgarh: is it liberated or ruled by fear?
Praveen Swami
http://www.hindu. com/2009/ 06/26/stories/ 2009062659761000 .htm
Is the violence in West Medinipur district really an adivasi uprising?
Land reform has given adivasis a high level of freedom and security
Poll results in the area showed no resentment against CPI(M)
LALGARH: Early this month, as police marched into the forests around Lalgarh, the adivasi residents of Salboni were told, by Maoists, to start building barricades.
Insurgents armed with rifles and side-arms watched over the villagers as they felled trees and dug trenches. Not surprisingly, no one disputed their orders.
But on Monday, Bongaram Lohar summoned courage to speak up on behalf of the dozens of local residents who had been press-ganged into the building work. For his defiance, Mr. Lohar was brutally beaten up and forced to flee the village.
Most commentary has cast the violence in Lalgarh as an expression of primal adivasi rage: rage against being denied development and justice. One critic even claimed the Lalgarh region had, for the past three decades, been "untouched by development. "
But Mr. Lohar's story — and a mass of empirical evidence — give reason to doubt this telling of the story.
No development?
Back in 1977, after the first Left Front government took power in West Bengal, entire villages were freed from the control of jotdars, or landlords, by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) workers.
Data from West Bengal's Department of Land and Land reforms shows that till 2002-03, land measuring 16,280 hectares was redistributed to peasants in the blocks of Jhargram, Binpur and Salboni — the areas now under Maoist assault. "In the Jhargram block village where I conduct research", says Aparajita Bakshi, Senior Research Fellow at the Indian Statistical Institute in Kolkata, "75 per cent of all households are land reform beneficiaries. Of Scheduled Tribe households, no less than 70 per cent gained agricultural land and 90 per cent gained homestead land as a result of land reform."
Income poverty and deprivation continue to exist throughout the region — but land reform has given adivasis a level of freedom and security their counterparts in the rest of India do not enjoy.
Marketed as the liberation of Lalgarh, Maoist rule, in fact, made the life of most adivasis worse. Income from forest produce, on which most local residents are dependent, dried up. Government programmes intended to mitigate hardship collapsed altogether.
"In November," says Bhumidhansola resident Manek Singh, "the Maoists forbade us to enter the forests to cut wood. The Forest Department used to pay us Rs.70 a day for this work. Now, no one even enters this area to purchase the leaf-plates we make. We have been left with nothing."
Extortion and attacks
Faced with extortion and attacks by Maoists, government staff also fled the area. Lalgarh residents told The Hindu that the Integrated Child Development Scheme workers were ordered to pay Rs.1,000 each month; school teachers and staff at the Block Development Office said they were compelled to part with twice as much to local Maoists.
Following the assassination of government doctor Honiran Murmu and staff nurse Bharati Majhi in October, the Lalgarh area has had almost no access to health care.
Politics and power
Election data debunks the idea that there is a popular rebellion against the CPI(M) under way in Lalgarh.
In the 2006 elections to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, the CPI(M) had won six of the seven Assembly seats which together make up the Jhargram Lok Sabha seat: Garhbeta East, Garhbeta West (SC), Salbani, Nayagram (ST), Gopiballavpur and Jhargram. The CPI(M) has held the Jhargram Lok Sabha seat, of which Lalgarh is a part, ever since 1977.
Police raids
Last year, the West Bengal Police carried out raids across the Lalgarh area, following a November 2 attempt to assassinate Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. Fighting between police and Maoist supporters broke out during the raids; several people were injured.
Backed by the Maoists, Trinamool Congress leader Chhatradar Mahato — the brother of the principal accused in the November 2 bombing — set up the Police Santras Birodhi Janaganer Committee (PSBJC), or People's Committee Against Police Atrocities.
The PSBJC activists blocked roads, shut off police access to the area, and attacked CPI(M) workers.
Prior to this year's Lok Sabha elections, the Maoists even initiated protests insisting that the police not enter the villages of Boro Pelia, Chhoto Pelia, Dalilpur Chowk and Khas Jungle — all areas where they had a substantial armed presence.
Had the PSBJC represented widespread resentment against the CPI(M), it ought to have showed up in this year's Lok Sabha elections. But Jhargram constituency swam against the anti-CPI(M) tide. The CPI(M) candidate, Pulin Bihar Baske, polled 5,45,231 votes, giving him a respectable lead over the 2,52,886 claimed by the Congress' Amrit Hansda. Mr. Baske even won in the Binpur Assembly segment, of which Lalgarh is a part.
Rule of fear
How, then, have the Maoists gained so much influence in Lalgarh? Jharkhand Party candidate Chunibala Hansda had this simple answer for one journalist reporting on the Lok Sabha elections: "People are scared of them".
Last year, even as the PSBJC was mobilising people against the West Bengal government, the Bharat Jakat Majhi Marwa — an organisation of traditional adivasi community leaders, which is opposed to the CPI(M) — organised a rally to protest Maoist violence. More than 10,000 adivasis gathered in Bhulabheda area of Belpahari on December 9.
Sudhir Mandal, the adivasi leader who organised the rally, was shot dead less than 48 hours later.
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WEST BENGAL
Lalgarh air thickens
- CRPF beef-up in Goaltore, more pointers to action
SUJAN DUTTA
http://www.telegrap hindia.com/ 1090626/jsp/ nation/story_ 11160939. jsp
Goaltore, June 25: Fresh companies of the Central Reserve Police Force moved into Goaltore today, increasing the possibility of an offensive from here to Ramgarh in the north of Lalgarh soon.
The arrival of the six companies of the 66th battalion, apart from 150 members of the paramilitary force's anti-Maoist Cobra unit, coincided with a meeting of top state officials at Writers' Buildings to discuss "ground conditions" in Lalgarh.
The meeting, attended by IG (law and order) Raj Kanojia, IG (co-ordination) Bhupinder Singh, home secretary Ardhendu Sen and chief secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti, was held essentially to discuss strategic locations in Lalgarh.
A map of Lalgarh was downloaded from Google Earth and the strategic spots marked.
Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee held another meeting with Chakrabarti, Sen, director-general of police Sujit Sarkar and Kanojia at the secretariat later in the evening, signalling that an "action" in Lalgarh was possibly on the cards.
Asked when police would go into action in Lalgarh, chief secretary Chakrabarti said: "It is not a question of when. The task of the police is to bring an end to terrorism in the area. The police will do whatever needs to be done."
Away in the battle zone, villagers carrying 6kg of rice each — relief doled out at the Goaltore block development office — walked up and down the road that the security forces might take tomorrow.
The villagers live and work in the zone that the police have not yet dared to patrol. The police are not sure if they will encounter resistance from blockades put up by villagers or by Maoist armed squads, or both.
The police and the paramilitary will have to draw fire and engage the rebels while forcing their way to Ramgarh — about 14km from here — unless the Maoists retreat to fight another day.
The road from Goaltore to Ramgarh runs over several culverts and a bridge over the river Kubai near Kadashole village, from where the gunmen who yesterday surrounded a team of journalists when they ventured beyond Pingboni are said to have emerged. Pingboni is 3km from here.
In the fields and forests on either side of the road from Pingboni, undulations offer cover. A march by the security forces off-the-road will need to be guided by Bengal police who alone know the area.
But Bengal police have little idea about the kind of opposition they might encounter, though there is a likelihood that the Maoists might decide not to take the security forces on frontally.
Police sources said the security forces would use mines when moving towards Ramgarh. "While advancing we can attach these mines to branches of trees and then detonate them and the splinters will hit in a forward direction and not at our troops who will be behind," an official said.
Mortars, too, will be used, whether armed Maoists are spotted or not. "If we suspect that Maoists could be hiding in a particular part of the jungle, we'll fire the mines even if we do not spot anyone," the officer said.
DIG (CID) S.N. Gupta and a team of CRPF officials walked a kilometre from Goaltore town towards Pingboni and held a meeting over maps. They returned to the town and held another round of meetings with senior police officials at the BDO office.
Jawans of the Indian Reserve Battalion and Eastern Frontier Rifles patrolled the 7km stretch between Goaltore town and Kiyamacha village to protect four bridges on the road.
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WEST BENGAL
Security forces prepare for a fresh offensive against Maoists in Lalgarh
Special Correspondent
http://www.hindu. com/2009/ 06/26/stories/ 2009062655871000 .htm
KOLKATA: Security forces deployed in Lalgarh and its adjacent areas in West Bengal's Paschim Medinipur district are preparing for a fresh offensive to flush out Maoists and activists of the Maoist-backed Police Santrosh Birodhi Janasadharaner Committee (PSBJC) from the region.
Six additional companies of the central forces arrived at Goaltore, about 20 km from Lalgarh, from where they, along with the State police, went on the job on Thursday.
The joint operation by the paramilitary forces and the State Armed Police against Maoists holed up in the Lalgarh area entered its eighth day.
Ever since the forces reclaimed the police station there on June 20 the operation has progressed steadily, though on a low key, with security personnel scouring the area for landmines and other explosives.
The operation will continue until normality is restored in the troubled area and a sense of security returns among the people there, according to Chief Secretary Ashok Mohan Chakraborty.
More companies of the central forces were expected to arrive to supplement the forces engaged in the operation, he said.
A base camp was set up by the security personnel in the Lalgarh Police Station and plans were on to make forays into the Ramgarh area, a Maoist stronghold, reports reaching here said.
The government had reiterated that the operation should not be viewed as one aimed at "occupying" the area but to provide protection to the victims of months of violence in the area and instil in them a sense of security.
It was difficult to estimate how long the operations would continue "but the end objective is to restore law and order, see development work resumes and schemes implemented and proper rule of law established, " Mr. Chakraborty told journalists during a visit to Lalgarh on Wednesday.
He said the government was always willing to hold talks with the leaders of the PSBJC, but it was asking them to surrender their arms before discussions could be held.
The PSBJC leaders recently said they were agreeable to talks if the security operations were stopped.
The government said that it would look into specific complaints of police highhandedness on some local villagers in the course of the operations. "The police have repeatedly been told to ensure that local villagers are not harassed in any way … The central security forces and the police have no discord with the people. Rather they are here to safeguard the people's interests," according to Mr. Chakraborty.
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WEST BENGAL
A ghost town with masked faces
http://www.telegrap hindia.com/ 1090626/jsp/ frontpage/ story_11161032. jsp
Amid suggestions that security forces are preparing for "action" in Lalgarh from the Goaltore side, The Telegraph's Pronab Mondal and a photographer ventured into Maoist-held territories from the other side on a motorbike and reached Ramgarh, considered the strongest redoubt of the rebel group. His account follows
A mud hut and a tin shed, with a dish antenna and TV set that look rather incongruous in these surroundings. This is the only office of the People's Committee Against Police Atrocities in the entire Lalgarh region.
Barapelia, a Maoist stronghold 4km north of Lalgarh town, is where the police expect the first major resistance when they march to Ramgarh via Kantapahari. But the committee office there is almost deserted today.
Only a few young men are watching the news on the security forces' operation on the TV set. Now they too are ready to leave. They quickly climb onto their motorbikes to relay the news to their "leaders" hiding in the nearby jungles.
"We are committee supporters," explains Subhas Tudu, face covered with a piece of cloth. "We know a police attack is imminent. So we are tracking police movements on the channels and conveying it to our leaders."
The committee installed the TV set only yesterday, we are told. "The committee members and leaders have left Barapelia and gone into the jungles as the police will target them first," Tudu says.
The 12km Lalgarh-Ramgarh road has been dug up at seven places. Barapelia, the first major stop, looks as deserted as the committee office. Everyone seems to have moved into makeshift shelters inside the jungles.
The police believe that these clusters are where the Maoist guerrillas are also billeted. "We have information that once we march ahead, the Maoists will crawl out of the jungles to attack us," an officer said.
Riding our motorcycle up towards Kantapahari, we veer off the main road to take the kachcha track to Chhotopelia, where an improvised explosive device killed a CPM leader a few months ago.
Chhotopelia too looks at least partially deserted. Suddenly, a group of men, faces covered, appear out of thin air at the edge of the village.
"You can't go any further," one of them says. "There is no one inside. Go away."
The warning is repeated everywhere we stop, barring us from entering localities or interacting with people. It's because "armed Maoists are holed up" inside the villages and towns, the police claim.
The scene is the same 1km ahead of Barapelia, at Kantapahari, the only town between Lalgarh and Ramgarh. The shops are shut and the people have fled. The only populated place is a relief camp the committee has set up at the Kantapahari Vivekananda High School. But there are only women and children here.
It was the headmaster of this school, Asim Ganguly, who had protested against the arrest of two students after the mine blast on the chief minister's route last November. Ganguly too has fled.
On the 7km stretch from Kantapahari to Ramgarh, we make two halts. The first is a large roadside poultry farm. We are stopped again. The police claim that 70 to 80 armed Maoists are sheltering there.
The next is Khasjungle, where three tribals were shot dead in February, allegedly by CPM cadres. The charred shells of three police jeeps tell of the retaliation.
Again, masked men confront us. "Are you reporters?" one asks. "If you have finished your job, leave at once." We do.
Twenty minutes later we reach Ramgarh, threading our motorcycle around tree trunks on the road.
It's a ghost town. Everything is shut and no one seems around. We venture into the charred police outpost. Still, there's no one.
Then five figures emerge from the shadows, their faces, as expected by now, covered. "What are you doing here?" one of them shouts.
Told we are journalists, a crisp note enters his voice. "Leave at once. You can't stay a moment in Ramgarh."
We climb onto our bike. The apparently empty houses look more eerie as we wonder about the police claim that they are manned by guerrillas, waiting for the battle to start — a claim the masked men wouldn't let us verify.
The feeling deepens as we take a different route out of the town, passing through nearby villages. We see people roaming around openly with rifles slung across their shoulders. Away from the main road, the need for stealth too seems to have dropped away.
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WEST BENGAL
Maoist: friend in need for all
- How Bengal's two main contenders for power used the guerrillas
BISWAJIT ROY
http://www.telegrap hindia.com/ 1090626/jsp/ bengal/story_ 11161042. jsp
The enemy's enemy is always a friend and both the CPM and the Trinamul Congress had courted the Maoists to fight their war on various battlegrounds — from Keshpur-Garbeta to Nandigram and Lalgarh — in the past 10 years.
The relations of Bengal's two main contenders for power with the Maoists soured only when the extremists crossed their paths to enforce their own political agenda.
Way back in 1998, the CPM had found "communist brotherhood" with the People's War Group, one of two constituents of the CPI (Maoist), when the ruling party was engaged in a bloody turf war with the Trinamul-BJP combine in the Keshpur-Garbeta region of West Midnapore.
According to Maoist sources, the CPM and the People's War had reached an "understanding at the local level" after activists of the Trinamul-BJP combine killed relatives of rebel leader Asit Sarkar to avenge the murder of a BJP leader.
"CPM members in the villages who had also been facing the Trinamul-BJP onslaught invited our squad to join them. They offered shelter, food as well as ammunition. We went for joint action,'' recalled a Maoist leader.
Two men were said to be instrumental in this episode. One of them was Koteshwar Rao, better known as Kishanji. The media-savvy Maoist now in Lalgarh was then the People's War politburo member in charge of Bengal and adjoining states.
While the Maoist sources said Kishanji had resented the "tactical understanding" with the CPM and Trinamul, other Naxalite groups like the PCC CPI(ML) insisted that he had not only approved but also taken active part in implementing it. Ideological grandstanding apart, all generals resort to dirty tricks and unholy alliances, they argued.
The other person was the pyjama-clad CPM strongman, now minister for western region development, Sushanta Ghosh, who had allegedly solemnised the short-lived CPM-Maoist deal.
He denies it now. "I had no relations with them. Since they were also facing Trinamul-BJP attacks, some of their leaders had approached us for a joint resistance to avenge the killing of their family members. But we chose to work independently. Their leaders later went for an alliance with the Trinamul-BJP against us,'' Ghosh said.
The CPM-Maoist bonhomie turned into a bloody fight as the equation changed with the threat of the Trinamul-BJP turf takeover receding and the rebels trying to spread their influence at the cost of the CPM. In the new equation, the vanquished Trinamul sought Maoist assistance to take on the CPM's armed forces.
"This time, some Trinamul men were inducted into our squad and given arms training,'' a Maoist leader said.
Such a Trinamul-Maoist joint squad was ambushed by a CPM gang at Chhoto Angaria village on West Midnapore's border with Hooghly and Bankura in 2001, effectively wip- ing out the armed resistance to the CPM's stranglehold on the region.
Chhoto Angaria made the Maoists fierce foes of the CPM and Trinamul inched closer to them. In Nandigram, Mamata Banerjee's party let the Maoists operate when it was still competing with the Congress, Jamait Ulema-i-Hind, SUCI and others for control of the Save Farmland Committee.
The CPM said the Maoists were active in Nandigram since January 2007. The Trinamul camp insisted that the gue-rrillas had nominal presence there before the police took the help of CPM cadres to launch an offensive on March 14.
"Since the resistance (to the police-CPM combine) needed armed support, the Maoists started imparting arms training to local youths at Sonachura. They were also in the Save Farmland Committee but we never allowed them to dominate us and managed to rein in their over-enthusiastic men by speaking to their higher leadership,' ' said a member of the Trinamul think tank.
But tension between the two sides mounted as both pressed for their own political agenda as the election season neared. "The Maoists started campaigning for a vote boycott and insisted on resisting the CPM's armed onslaught in November 2007 with arms. But we feared it will spin out of control and focused more on electoral politics and resistance forms suitable to the polls since we knew popular support was with us," a Trinamul leader said.
The Maoist squad later left the area accusing the mainstream Opposition of not supplying arms and ammunition as promised, he added.
The CPI (Maoist) leadership later blamed Trinamul for sacrificing the potential of the Nandigram resistance as the spearhead of the anti-special economic zone (SEZ) struggle for electoral gains.
In Lalgarh, too, all anti-CPM forces joined hands under the People's Committee Against Police Atrocities as popular anger mounted against police's illegal detentions, arbitrary arrests, night raids and beating of innocent people in the name of tackling Maoists.
The anger exploded after the police brutalities on women following the blast on the chief minister's route last November.
The committee drew its strength from elected village representatives across Lalgarh.
According to sources close to the Maoists as well as Trinamul, Jharkhand Party factions led by Aditya Kisku and Babu Bose, pro-Jharkhand Party Naxalite outfits such as the one led by Santosh Rana as well as the mainstream Opposition parties participated in the committee.
While committee spokesman Chhatradhar Mahato was in Trinamul, its president Lalmohan Tudu was with the Aditya group and vice-president Santosh Patra a CPM rebel. Secretary Sidhu Soren was a greenhorn in politics in comparison.
As the committee barred political parties and groups from asserting their own identity, the Maoists, active in the area for long, also joined the forum. However, sources said they were not a dominant force initially in the 45-member central body of the committee.
Although Trinamul had a nominal presence in the area, Mamata saw potential in the committee and attended its rally supporting its agitation.
However, tension began as the Maoists started dictating terms to the activists from the Jharkhand Parties, Trinamul and the Congress and the bitterness led to mutual killings in some cases.
According to Trinamul leaders, the Maoists had asked the anti-CPM forces to field one candidate together to ensure the ruling party's defeat in the Lok Sabha polls in the region. Trinamul had no problem with this as the party had conceded Jhargram to the Congress, but the Jharkhand Party factions did not agree.
The Maoists retaliated by extending the poll boycott in the entire area while Mamata and the other anti-CPM forces accused them of helping the CPM win by huge margins from Jhargram, Ghatal, Bankura and Purulia despite its eroding base among tribals.
With Maoists determined to ensure their supremacy in the Lalgarh and expand their base, the Trinamul camp is now bitter that the rebels ultimately dished out Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and his party a chance to recover from its worst poll debacle by inviting the Centre-state joint crackdown.
Kishanji questioned Mamata's "class character" and accused her of failing to return the favour extended in Nandigram and not standing up against the Centre's involvement in operation Lalgarh.
With Bhattacharjee and Mamata now engaged in one-upmanship over the ban on the Maoists, the guerrillas count both among their enemies, hated in equal measure.
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WEST BENGAL
Wanted: Lalgarh spy
IMRAN AHMED SIDDIQUI
http://www.telegrap hindia.com/ 1090626/jsp/ bengal/story_ 11161044. jsp
Lalgarh, June 25: Police are on a recruitment overdrive in Lalgarh to gather intelligence on the Maoists and their local collaborators.
The salary is negotiable but the job comes with a perk, a prepaid cellphone connection.
"We have got 50 people, but we need more," said a senior state police officer.
The first batch of recruits — selected primarily from villages near Lalgarh thana — have already started working. They have got their phones and list of officers with whom they should be in touch.
Lower-rung policemen in Lalgarh and Goaltore are helping the officers identify the potential candidates.
"Convincing them to work for us is a challenge as they are wary of getting identified. We have told them that they won't have to come to the thana or meet a policeman," said the officer.
According to him, the lure of a fixed salary — which he refused to divulge — and immunity from police action helped in getting the first 50 on board.
The officers in charge of Lalgarh and Goaltore thanas have briefed them about their mandate — tracking the movement of the Maoists, gathering information in advance on meetings between the rebels and People's Committee leaders and locating houses where arms and ammunition have been stored.
Senior state and central force officers had told The Telegraph the biggest handicap was lack of intelligence inputs.
Although the forces have taken position in Lalgarh and Goaltore in West Midnapore and Sarenga in Bankura, they haven't been able to move into the core areas in the absence of credible information on where the Maoists could be holed up. "It will be suicidal to enter the core areas without proper intelligence, " said a central force officer.
Till November, local CPM cadres were the primary source of information for the district intelligence branch and the intelligence bureau. The network collapsed after the Maoists started ruling the region.
"Unless we have local sources, it is going to be extremely difficult to identify the Maoists, who have mingled with the villagers," explained a senior officer.
The job for the new recruits would not be easy. "Although these men are from Lalgarh, we haven't got people from the core area. Those villages are still out of bounds," said the officer.
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WEST BENGAL
Buddha firm on ban
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
http://www.telegrap hindia.com/ 1090626/jsp/ bengal/story_ 11161045. jsp
Calcutta, June 25: Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today made it clear at a Left Front meeting that he would enforce the central ban on the CPI (Maoist).
Officially, the front deferred a decision and decided to discuss it in the cabinet core committee on Monday. But the allies got a clear impression that Bhattacharjee had made up his mind to deal with the Maoists with an iron hand.
"Despite our protests, he didn't commit on not arresting suspected Maoists under the UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act). He is in total agreement with Chidambaram, " an RSP leader said, referring to the Union home minister's prod to Bhattacharjee to ban the Maoists in Bengal.
Bhattacharjee' s remarks suggested as much. "There is a huge difference between the time when we opposed central acts such as Misa (Maintenance of Internal Security Act), Tada (Terrorist and disruptive Activities Prevention Act)… and now. We need a strong law to deal sternly with Maoists and other terrorists," a front leader quoted him as saying when they reminded him of the Left "legacy" of fighting "Draconian central laws".
"After the Centre's inclusion of the CPI (Maoist) on the list of terrorist outfits, we can't ignore it," Bhattacharjee reasoned while explaining his three-pronged strategy — administrative, political and development- oriented — to contain the guerrillas.
State CPM secretary Biman Bose did not defend the chief minister, inside the meeting or outside. "No decision has been taken. How can I comment?" said Bose, also the front chairman.
Instead, he iterated the front resolution that had opposed a ban on Maoists and stressed on a political battle to isolate them.
Bose criticised the rebels for trying to kill the chief minister and asked for administrative actions to restore normality in Lalgarh but parried questions on whether the use of the ban would be part of such actions. "Since the law is applicable to the entire country, the chief minister said the state would decide how to implement it here. The core committee will discuss it," Bose said.
Party veteran Benoy Konar defended Bhattacharjee at the meeting. "The heavily armed present-day Maoists can't be countered like the Naxalites of yesteryears, '' he said.
The allies accused Bhattacharjee of taking a unilateral decision. "There is a clear dichotomy between your stand and the front's. The front had ruled out the ban… but you followed the Centre's line. How can we reconcile the two?" asked Kshiti Goswami, RSP leader and PWD minister.
"We won't be in power forever. Then your decision will boomerang on us,'' said Kiranmoy Nanda of the Socialist Party. The CPI's Nandagopal Bhattacharya questioned Maoist spokesman Gaur Chakraborty' s arrest. "Only a few Maoist handbills were found on him. Did he really pose a danger to the state?"
The chief minister said: "He was involved in more serious offences."
When the Bloc's Hafiz Alam Sairani said the Congress-led Centre would now pressure the state to accept a unified command over Maoist-hit states and make room for MNCs in the mineral-rich tribal belt, the chief minister shot back. "The Maoists have paralysed the mines in Jharkhand. Is it in national interest?"
As heated exchanges continued, the Bloc's Ashok Ghosh suggested that the issue be sent to the core committee.
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WEST BENGAL
[Editorial leader, The Telegraph (Kolkata) 26 June 2009]
GUNS AND RICE
http://www.telegrap hindia.com/ 1090626/jsp/ opinion/story_ 11158158. jsp
Two images stand out from the latest news from Lalgarh — of guns and rice. Between them, these images say much about what went wrong there. The guns, now mostly those of the police and the paramilitary forces, suggest that Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee' s government is, at long last, seriously trying to take on the Maoists. Action has finally replaced months of inaction and indecision. Given the confusing signals that still come from statements by leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), it is doubtful if the West Bengal government would have ventured to act even now without New Delhi's resolve and assistance. Some results of the belated action are already showing, with the Maoists on a seemingly tactical retreat and the State beginning to re-establish its authority in some parts of the affected areas that had long been out of bounds for it. But the battle is clearly going to be long. The state needs to keep the pressure on the rebels and hold on to regained territory. That would be difficult, though, if the state's resolve slackens or, worse still, woolly-headed politics is allowed to meddle in the administration' s task. That danger is always there, given the CPI(M)'s foggy ideas of a political fight against the Maoists. It may be necessary to fight the rebels politically, but that can happen only if the Marxists can regain the trust of the local people.
Distributing rice free to the poor people in Lalgarh is obviously an attempt by the government to regain their trust. But it is impossible not to see the duplicity of the exercise. The rice that is now being distributed actually symbolizes the deprivation and the deception that the government and the ruling Marxists handed to Lalgarh's poor for years. And this deprivation stood out in sharp focus against the prosperity of the leading party cadre in the area. This yawning gap between the lifestyles of the party cadre and that of the people has been one of the salient features of communist regimes across the world. At the last cabinet meeting earlier this week, the chief minister talked of a task force to develop regions inhabited by the tribal people. That was news to even some of his cabinet colleagues. While the battle against the Maoists and their insurrection must go on, this charade of development must end. Unless the Marxists act on the lessons from Lalgarh, the Maoist rebellion may strike roots elsewhere in the state.
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UTTAR PRADESH
`Maoist' activity on border with Nepal
Atiq Khan
http://www.hindu. com/2009/ 06/26/stories/ 2009062657100500 .htm
Three border pillars damaged, red flag hoisted
U.P. places forces on maximum alert
Report of incident being sent to the Centre
LUCKNOW: The activities of suspected Maoists in Shravasti district on the India-Nepal border have alerted the Uttar Pradesh authorities.
The alert comes after alleged Maoists damaged three border pillars and hoisted a red flag on a tree on June 20 and 21 in an area under the Sirsiya police station in the district.
Home Secretary Mahesh Gupta said here on Thursday that a report on the incident is being sent to the Centre.
Mr. Gupta said the incident was reported from a no-man's land on the border and occurred about eight km from the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) post located in Bhauva naka.
Stating that the area was covered by dense forests and small hills, Mr. Gupta said pillar number 618, 623/2 and 625 were damaged by "anti-social elements."
He added that the suspected Maoists also raised anti-India slogans.
Though the State's role in such matters is limited, the issue will be discussed with Nepalese officials when they visit the neighbouring Dang district (on the other side of the border) on Friday.
Mr. Gupta said security along the border is maintained by the SSB, which has already been placed on maximum alert.
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JHARKHAND
State police launch leaflet war on rebels
RAJ KUMAR
http://www.telegrap hindia.com/ 1090626/jsp/ jharkhand/ story_11159391. jsp
Ranchi, June 25: Eight districts, 30,000 pamphlets and one appeal: shun extremism. The war on Naxalites had never been this big in this tribal heartland.
And perhaps for the first time, the men in khaki are using a different weapon to weed out the menace. Every pamphlet intends to expose how the rebels use coercion to get their wards admitted to elite schools and colleges while depriving poor children of the right to study by blowing up school buildings.
"On one hand, they are robbing poor children of their rights by blowing up schools and by recruiting young cadres; on the other hand, they are mounting pressure on the management of Netarhat Vidyalaya to admit their wards. Top Naxalite leader Rupesh Jee has used his clout to get his son into a reputed engineering college in Bangalore — such are their double-standards, " reads one them.
The pamphlets are being distributed in the Naxalite strongholds of Latehar, Chatra, Garhwa, Palamau, Giridih, East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum and Lohardaga to tell residents that the rebels were anti-people despite all their pro-people pledges.
Making a copy of the pamphlet available to The Telegraph, police spokesperson and IG (provision) S.N. Pradhan said this was the first time the pamphlet war had been waged in such a big way. In 2006, the drive was limited to only Latehar and Palamau, two of the biggest Naxalite dens.
The pamphlets provide a detailed list of the school buildings blown up by extremist outfits in 2009. The list includes Manatu Middle School, Chak Middle School, Vishunpur Middle School and Belhara High School of Palamau, Makka Project High School of Lohardaga, Barwadih Primary School of Latehar, Khukhra Middle School of Giridih, Narayanpur Middle School of Chatra and Dangru Primary School of East Singhbhum. Some of the leaflets also have a list of community buildings and primary health centres blown up this year.
In order to expose the "real"face of extremists, one of the pamphlets cites the example of a Mandar boy, Kali Munda, who was allegedly tortured for refusing to join the children brigade of Naxalites in April this year.
A police officer confirmed that already 30,000 copies had been distributed in the past two days and more were being printed. "It is a war the outcome of which is still unknown. People should know how cruel these rebels are and that might prevent them from providing logistic support," said a senior police officer.
Another posted at Bundu police station said they would continue the campaign till people stopped helping rebels and started aiding the police in the fight against extremism. "The purpose of this pamphlet war is to mobilise people's support against extremism. We expect a positive result soon," he said.
Senior police superintendent of police Praveen Kumar confirmed the campaign that began two days ago.
"We are distributing the pamphlets in the Naxalite-hit districts. Special focus is on areas such as Bundu, Tamar and Angara."
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ORISSA
South Orissa going the Lalgarh way?
Sib Kumar Das
http://www.hindu. com/2009/ 06/26/stories/ 2009062655400300 .htm
Naryanpatna block office, railway station and communication towers targeted in the latest attack
Attack made hours before visit of Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram
Areas of Naryanpatna and Bandhugaon blocks remain cut off since June 15
BERHAMPUR: Areas of south Orissa seem to be fast slipping out of the hands of the Orissa Government on the lines of Lalgarh in West Bengal.
Areas of Naryanpatna and Bandhugaon blocks in Koraput district still remain out of the reach of outside world since June 15. In a daring challenge Maoists attacked the Naryanpatna block office, railway station and communication towers at Kakiriguma in Koraput district hours before the arrival of Union Home Minister P.Chidambaram in Koraput on Thursday to review the situation in the area.
On Wednesday Maoists burnt down the communication cable passing along the iron ore slurry pipe line of Essar group near Chitrakonda in Malkangiri district. Earlier this month Maoists had burnt down five vehicles of the company near Chitrakonda.
Due to naxal threat the top brass of the administration and police no more dare to travel to naxal-infested areas of south Orissa by road from Bhubaneswar. They now prefer to fly to these regions which happened even on Thursday. Two days ago a helicopter made flights from Koraput to Narayanpatna to drop food materials for the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Orissa police stranded in Narayanpatna block.
Around 100 CRPF and 60 State Armed Police (OSAP) personnel are now stationed at Narayanpatna along with local policemen as the block remains cut off from outside world.
Common man hit
Maoists have also destroyed telecommunication towers in the area. Additional forces were also airlifted to the area.
The irony is that no measures have been taken to provide food to the common man who is languishing without communication. The Maoists and their supporters looted food materials meant for mid-day meal stored at Narayanpatna block office with an aim to create support base by distributing it among common mass.
The three roads connecting Naryanpatna from Laxmipur, Damanjodi and Bandhugaon still remain closed due to felled trees and threat of landmines planted by Maoists. Similar is the situation in adjoining Bandhugaon block. This block is no more directly connected to Koraput town by road as the Bandhugaon-Almonda road is closed by felled trees. It can only be reached from Rayagada district. At present more than 125 villages of both these blocks are cut off from outside world.
In May the road communication between Malkangiri town and Jeypore in Koraput district was snapped by Maoists who cut down trees near Govindpalli. Malkangiri district remained out of reach for about week as 250 trees were cut down near Govindapalli during a bandh. At present life gets paralysed in Malkangiri district due to bandh calls of naxals at short notice.
Apart from the road communication, naxals have started targeting the railways and mobile communication during their attacks in this region of south Orissa. Their plan seems to be to cut off the people of this region from the government and administration by their umbrella of terror and panic.
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ORISSA
Naxals `greet' Chidambaram with blasts
Statesman News Service
http://www.thestate sman.net/ page.news. php?clid= 9&theme=& usrsess=1& id=259022
KORAPUT, 25 JUNE: Maoists "greeted" Union home minister Mr P Chidambaram by carrying out midnight strikes yesterday at Kakirigumma railway station, destroying two mobile phone towers and C-dot telephone exchange.
In another incident, the Narayanpatna block office was ransacked last night by a mob whose identity is yet to be established.
The Maoist attacks were conducted last night, apparently to demonstration their strong presence in the area. Mr Chidambaram reached Koraput at 5 p.m. today.
The Left wing extremists blasted parts of the railway station and blew off the battery rooms of two mobile phone towers at Kakirigumma last night.
According to Mr AK Prusty , the station master of Kakirigumma railway station, he and his assistant were sleeping in his room at around 11 p.m. when the radicals stormed the station. They were speaking in Telegu and Hindi informed Mr Prusty. "We were taken to the platform at gun point We were forced to sit on the platform when the Naxals carried out the blasts at the switch room, signal room, battery room, relay room, panel board and the station master's office," he narrated.
"Mr Prusty and his assistant were sitting on the platform till 4 a.m. in the morning before the patrolling team of the department rescued them from the place," Mr T Tirumala Rao another railway official said.
Rail traffic was disrupted till late evening today.
About 60 armed Naxals , mostly young women cadre then entered the premises of the mobile phone tower of Tata Indicom and burnt down the battery box using a low scale bomb.
"Hearing the sound people in the neighbourhood rushed out but the Naxals ordered them to get back to their house," said Ms Hurima Bisoyi an eyewitness to the mayhem. "The blast in the BSNL exchange was even louder," she added.
While the wall clock on the inner wall of the BSNL exchange is seen stopped at 11.45 p.m. The BTS, 256 C-dot exchange and 16 ring system in the telephone exchange were destroyed in the bomb blast. The loudest blast had occurred near the Reliance mobile phone tower on the opposite side of the main road. The explosion had thrown debris from the battery room to a distance of more than 200 meters.
The Naxals had left some posters on the spot, out of which many had turned illegible due to heavy rains.
Some of the posters which were retrieved carried warnings against establishment of the Cobra battalion at Sunabeda, allegations of police atrocities and fake encounters and demands for land rights of tribals.
There were conflicting versions to the attack on the block office at Narayanpatna which remains cut off from the rest of the world for 12 days now. While one version was that radicals had done the damage, another said it was ransacked by angry tribals and not necessarily Maoists. The block office was completely ransacked, all furniture and papers set ablaze.
The intruders, whose identity is not known, also took away 70 bicycles, 20 quintals of rice, 70 quintals of wheat with them. They had also destroyed 8 computers of the office.
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ORISSA
Rebels blow up station, trains stalled
OUR CORRESPONDENT
http://www.telegrap hindia.com/ 1090626/jsp/ nation/story_ 11159006. jsp
Bhubaneswar, June 25: Maoists blasted a railway station and three mobile towers at two places in the rebel-hit district of Koraput, hours before the scheduled visit of Union home minister P. Chidambaram to the state.
The rebels blew up parts of the Kakiriguma railway station between Baiguda and Laxmipur stations of Rayagada-Koraput section around 1.30pm. Six armed men swooped on the station and forced two railway staff on duty to move out of the building before using detonators to blow it up.
"They forcibly removed A.K. Prusty, the station manager on duty, and Surya Narayana, another railway staffer on duty, some 500m from the station and then blew up the station building," said East Coast Railway spokesperson M.D. Sahu.
The blast left two battery rooms, a panel board and a relay room of the station severely damaged. Communication to the station from the railway control room was completely snapped.
Following the blast, the Bhubaneswar- Koraput Hirakhand Express, which was stopped at Rayagada, had to be rescheduled. The train will now run as Koraput-Bhubaneswar Hirakhand Express at 10.45pm from Rayagada to Bhubaneswar.
Similarly, Koraput-Howrah Samaleswari Express, scheduled to leave Koraput today, was cancelled between Koraput and Titlagarh. Howrah-Koraput Samaleswari Express was stalled at Titlagarh and will return as Koraput-Howrah Samaleswari Express from Titlagarh to Howrah.
Rayagada-Koraput Passenger has been cancelled today, while Koraput- Rayagada Passenger has been stalled at Baliguda to return as a passenger special to Koraput.
Visakhapatnam Koraput passenger has been short-terminated at Rayagada and will return as Koraput-Visakhapatn am passenger from Rayagada to Visakhapatnam.
Railway officials have already begun efforts to restore normality of train services, which will begin after state police give its clearance.
Rebels also ransacked the Narayanpatna block office yesterday midnight and looted the office. Hundreds of Maoists, including women, went on a rampage in the block office and damaged computers and documents. The mayhem continued till 12.30am. The rebels then decamped with office bicycles and grain stored for midday meals.
On their way, rebels torched control rooms of two mobile towers and damaged a signal panel board near the village. "The control rooms and the signal panel board were damaged," said deputy inspector-general of police Sanjeeb Panda.
At least 125 villages have remained cut off from the rest of the state since June 16 after Maoists felled more than 30 trees on three roads that connect the region to the district headquarters of Koraput.
The government has been airlifting food and essential commodities for the 100 Central Reserve Police Force and 60 Orissa State Armed Police personnel stationed at Narayanpatna, along with local policemen, owing to the blockade. Helicopters have been carrying rice, lentils, sugar, kerosene and dry food.
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ORISSA
Maoists run amok in Koraput
Correspondent
http://www.hindu. com/2009/ 06/26/stories/ 2009062659791100 .htm
Attacks come a few hours before Chidambaram' s visit
KORAPUT: Maoists attacked a railway station, damaged cellular phone towers and looted a block office in Koraput district of Orissa in the early hours of Thursday.
The attacks came a few hours before the visit of Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram to Koraput to review the preparedness to tackle the naxal menace.
Maoists blasted parts of the Kakiriguma railway station around midnight on Wednesday night. They also blasted the battery rooms of two mobile phone towers along with the telephone exchange of the BSNL at Kakiriguma.
According to Kakiriguma station master A.K. Prusty, naxals blasted the switch room, signal room, battery room, relay room, panel board and the station master's office. They left two live bombs in the BSNL exchange.
Rail traffic hit
The Maoist attack at Kakiriguma affected the rail traffic in the Rayagada-Koraput section. The Bhubaneswar- Koraput Hirakhand Express was sent back to Bhubaneswar from Rayagada.
During the same time, another group of Maoists and their supporters attacked the block office at Narayanpatna. This block remained cut off from outside world since June 15, owing to road blocks created by naxals.
Office ransacked
Maoists ransacked the block office, burnt down the records and looted the food material stored for mid-day meal project.
They left some posters in English, Hindi and Oriya at Kakiriguma in which they opposed the establishment of a Cobra battalion at Sunabeda in Koraput district.
Naxals attacked the bauxite mine of NALCO in Koraput district on April 12 and killed 10 Central Industrial Security Force personnel. They attacked two police stations and a police outpost in the district on June 7 night.
Over 100 villages of the Narayanpatna and Bandhugaon blocks of the district still remain cut off from outside world due to road blocks and threat of landmines. A police team trying to clear the roads fell victim to a landmine blast and nine were killed in the June 18 incident.
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ORISSA
PC tour marred by Maoist blasts
OUR CORRESPONDENT
http://www.telegrap hindia.com/ 1090626/jsp/ frontpage/ story_11159045. jsp
Bhubaneswar, June 25: In the backdrop of a sudden spurt in Maoist attacks in Orissa's Koraput, Union home minister P. Chidambaram today reviewed the situation in the district and visited some security establishments in the rebel-hit area.
The home minister landed at the OSAP field in Koraput at 5.10pm. Beginning his two-day tour of the state, he then proceeded to visit the counter-insurgency training camp and the district armoury in the southern town in the evening.
The minister interacted with the personnel there and tried to ascertain whether the armoury, which was looted by Maoists in February 2006, had been properly fortified to prevent recurrence of any such attack, sources said.
Later in the evening, Chidambaram conducted a review meeting that was attended by home secretary Aditya Padhi, director-general of police Manmohan Praharaj, superintendents of police and district collectors of Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur and Rayagada to make a ground level assessment about Maoist menace.
The minister reviewed the security scenario in the district, close to rebel-hit Andhra Pradesh, at the meeting and tried to chalk out strategies to fight the Maoist menace.
At the Koraput Circuit House he was given a Guard of Honour.
The home minister is slated to tour riot-torn Kandhamal tomorrow where he is slated to visit the relief camps.
Over 2,000 victims are still holed up in relief camps since the riots, following the murders of Swami Laxmananda Saraswati and four of his associates. He is also expected to inspect the magazine house of National Aluminium Company at Damanjodi that was targeted by the Left-wing rebels on April 12.
Chidambaram would meet chief minister Naveen Patnaik before flying back.
Hours before his visit, Maoists struck in a big way attacking a railway station, damaging communication towers and looting a block office in Koraput. The rebels also blew up three mobile phone towers, including one belonging to BSNL, at Kakiriguma, using landmines.
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ORISSA
Maoists told to give up `divisive' agenda
Staff Reporter
http://www.hindu. com/2009/ 06/26/stories/ 2009062655370300 .htm
Take tribals and dalits into confidence, State told
Mainstream left parties fail to reach out to tribals, says CPI(M) leader
BERHAMPUR: The Maoists in Orissa are falling into the gameplan of bourgeois forces, alleged a CPI(M) leader. Member of the State secretariat of the CPI(M) Ali Kishore Patnaik said it was high time for the Maoists to understand that they were dividing people in the name of mass movement. According to him Maoists are also dividing the downtrodden in the name of mass movement which is the motive of the bourgeois forces. "They are creating animosity between tribals and non-tribals, people living in plain areas and hilly areas which are quite contrary to the tenets of mass movement", he said.
`Single class'
As per the CPI(M) leader, the downtrodden whether they live in hilly jungle area or in plain land are of a single class. Any differentiation between them in the name of geographic location or caste was nothing but a divisive action. They hinted at the Maoists supporting tribals against non-tribals including dalits in several parts of south Orissa.
According to Mr Patnaik the extremist elements were taking advantage of lack of reach of mainstream leftist parties in Orissa. He accepted that the mainstream left parties had failed to reach out and educate the tribals and dalits living in remote areas about their rights. The mainstream bourgeois political parties had also failed to deal with problems of remote areas which they reach out only for electoral gains, he said, adding that in the name of solving the problems of tribals, the Maoists were creating anarchy in the area.
The party felt it was high time for the State Government to take measure so that the tribals and dalits living in remote areas were taken into confidence.
The leftist leader suggested that the State Government immediately take up land settlement measures in the hilly areas. He also wants the State Government to eradicate the legal stumbling blocks that have prevented the handing over of land rights under Forest Rights Act 2006.
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ORISSA
CM talks terror with army boss
http://www.telegrap hindia.com/ 1090626/jsp/ nation/story_ 11159377. jsp
Bhubaneswar, June 25 (PTI): Worried over the spurt in Maoist attacks in Orissa, chief minister Naveen Patnaik today met top army officers of the Central Command, triggering speculation that the state may be seeking army assistance in tackling the rebel problem.
"We are ready to provide any kind of help to the state it wants," said Lt General J.K. Mohanty, the commanding officer of the Indian Army's central command, while talking to reporters after the meeting in the evening.
On the possible army intervention in Koraput, he said that would be a political decision.
The meeting assumes significance as it came hours before the commencement of the two-day visit of Union home minister P. Chidambaram to the state and especially to Koraput, where Maoists struck in a big way attacking a railway station some 30km from Koraput.
The rebels also damaged communication towers and looted a block office in Koraput district.
The army officer, however, said Orissa was "doing well" in tackling the Maoist menace by raising special striking force comprising ex-servicemen.
During his tour, Chidambaram was scheduled to visit Nalco's bauxite mines at Panchpatmali hills at Damonjodi in Koraput, which was attacked by Maoist on April 12.
Koraput continues to emerge as the disturbed area in the state with Maoist launching series of attacks there.
While keeping Narayanpatna cut off from rest of the country by blocking roads, Maoists had killed at least nine security personnel in a landmine blast on June 18 and attacked three police establishments in Koraput district on June 7.
Though 11 days had passed since Maoists blocked roads to Narayanpatna, no attempt was made to clear trees from roads after killing of nine security personnel.
To a query, Lt Gen Mohanty said the army was now training personnel of Orissa's elite anti-naxal force Special Operation Group (SOG) and other police personnel.
On the proposed army base in Orissa, he said the state government would give a complete project report on the matter.
Patnaik, however, said that possible army intervention intoNaxalite problem did not figure during his discussion with the senior army officer.
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