Maoist presence in MP tiger reserve grows, police on alert
BHOPAL: The presence of Maoists has grown significantly in the Kanha tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh, including in its inviolate core, and in an effort to counter this, the state police has decided to set up three outposts in the core area and also sought deployment of four battalions of the Central Police Reserve Force (CRPF) in the country’s oldest regulated forest.
The reserve, which is on the Chhattisgarh-madhya Pradesh border, has 110 tigers as per a 2010 estimation and also 80% of the country’s swamp deer population.
It also has a Maoist presence in four of its six zones, the officials confirmed. “We have regular movement of armed Maoists in four core zones of KTR,” said SK Singh, the reserve’s field director.
Indravati in Chhattisgarh and Palamu in Jharkhand are two other tiger reserves where the Maoists have a significant presence.
“Their (Maoist) plan is to spread their area of influence to Amarkantak in Anuppur district through the forest,” said a senior police officer, who is part of MP’S anti-maoist operations.
Admitting presence of the insurgents in Kanha, Sameer Saurabh, superintendent of police, Balaghat, said, “Despite their presence, anti-maoist forces and local police are dominating the area. But, their influence is increasing and to keep them under check, setting up of outpolice posts and getting additional battalions are important.”
The Maoists started entering Balaghat district of MP about five years ago in a bid to expand their base from Chhattisgarh and Gadchiroli in Maharashtra. In 2022, three districts, Balaghat, Mandla and Dindori were declared Maoist affected.
records show that in the past four years, seven Maoists were killed in gunfights with police and one was arrested. Maoists have killed three villagers and a forest contractual employee suspecting them to be police informers. Sukhdev Parte, 25, an assistant of Parsatola forest beat guard, was shot dead on March 23.
Kanha’s saal-bamboo forest, with interspersed grassland, provides Maoists the perfect cover for their movement from one village to another. Unlike the hilly Satpura ranges, Kanha is easier to navigate on foot and is also very close to Kabir Dham and Mungeli districts of Chhattisgarh, providing easy escape routes in case of anti-maoist operation, the senior police officer cited above added on condition of anonymity.
Kanha is the oldest maintained forest in India, and retired forest official, Rakesh Shukla, describes it as one of India’s best forests . “The wellmaintained forest is helping the Maoists to run their operations,” he said.
Kanha has negligible human presence in core area of about 940 sq km. Shukla said the peaceful environment and easy terrain become safe haven for Maoists.
A few months ago, Union environment minister Bhupendra Yadav had written to the state government seeking an action plan to deal with growing influence of Maoists in Kanha. As a result, the forest department allowed home department to set outposts in buffer areas.