Maoists eye safer regions to revive ops, says CRPF study

NEWDELHI: The Communist Party of India ( Maoist), mired in its worst leadership crisis and confronting a slump in its influence in states such as Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha where it once held sway, may shift to safer locations to revive the movement, according to a study conducted by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) to mark the golden jubilee of left-wing extremism in India.

CRPF, the leading internal security force of the country, has noticed the Maoists beginning to expand to new areas such as the Maharashtra-Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh (MMC) tri-junction and the Kerala-Karnataka-Tamil Nadu tri-junction, said the study, titled Countering Maoism—Way Ahead. The group’s future plans include creating a base at the Simplipal sanctuary near the West Bengal-Jharkhand-Odisha tri-junction, the study added.

“... there are probabilities that it may again shift its location to lesser combative locations as perceived in their documents including central committee meetings’ minutes,” said the CRPF analysis, a copy of which has been reviewed by Hindustan Times. To the surprise of intelligence and security agencies, there are some “undocumented activities (of Maoists) in Uttarakhand” as well, according to the analysis.

“It’s true that Maoists have been trying to find new places for their activities but all their efforts are being thwarted through coordinated efforts. The Maoists are feeling the pressure as the area under their influence is shrinking every day,” CRPF director general Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar said. CPI (Maoist) was formed in 2004 through a merger of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), the People’s War Group and the Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCCI). In India, left-wing insurgency, inspired by Mao Zedong and his slogan, “political power grows out of the barrel of a gun,” dates back to the late 1960s. Known as the “Naxalite” movement, it takes its name from the West Bengal village of Naxalbari, where a peasant uprising broke out in 1967.

THE GROUP’S PLANS INCLUDE CREATING A BASE AT THE SIMPLIPAL SANCTUARY NEAR THE BENGAL-JHARKHANDODISHA TRI-JUNCTION