'The (Maoist) organisation is in visible decline. Their senior leaders are ageing. Forest life is unforgiving -- older leaders simply cannot cope physically.' 'Earlier, they attracted educated youth from cities. That stream has dried up. Today's recruits largely come from poor village backgrounds and lack ideological depth.'
Two undergraduate students in Pune have been booked for allegedly promoting enmity after performing a dance to a song that allegedly glorified a slain Naxal commander during a cultural event at a government-run hostel.
Top Naxalite commander Madvi Hidma, who had masterminded several attacks over the last two decades, was killed in an encounter in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday, a breakthrough Chhattisgarh Police described as the 'last nail in the coffin' of the insurgency.
Madavi Hidma, the dreaded Maoists 'commander,' was killed by security forces 12 days before the November 30 deadline set by Union Home Minister Amit Shah to eliminate the most wanted Naxalite, sources said on Tuesday.
Delhi's Patiala House Court on Monday remanded 17 (11 girls, six boys) accused to three days' judicial custody.
A Delhi court granted bail to six protesters arrested in connection with a protest at India Gate, where slogans were allegedly raised in support of a slain Maoist commander. Bail was denied to four others, and decisions on other pleas are pending.
A protest concerning air pollution in Delhi-NCR turned violent when demonstrators allegedly attacked police officers with pepper spray while being removed from India Gate. Several officers sustained injuries and are receiving medical treatment.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah criticised the Congress party for its alleged inaction in addressing Maoist violence during its long rule, while highlighting the Modi government's success in nearly eradicating Maoists from Bastar, Chhattisgarh.
Seven more Maoists were killed in an exchange of fire with police in Andhra Pradesh, a day after six Maoists were gunned down in the same area. The operation took place in Maredumilli, Alluri Sitaramaraju district. One of the deceased was identified as Meturi Jokha Rao alias Tech Shankar, a key figure in the Maoist movement.
An ultra-Left students' outfit, RSF, has triggered a row by symbolically naming the venue of its state conference after Maoist leaders killed by security forces. The conference was held at Jadavpur University.
'From every point of view, they have faced an extremely difficult couple of years, and the setback they have suffered is irreversible.' 'This reality has begun to set in even amongst the top-level cadres. That is why, in recent times, we have witnessed a huge number of senior-level cadres emerging from the jungle and deciding to renounce violence and join the mainstream.'
Delhi Police claim protesters arrested at India Gate for using pepper spray on officers are linked to the banned Radical Student Union and displayed banners of a slain Maoist leader.
Delhi Police told a court that some protesters arrested for allegedly using pepper spray on police personnel during a demonstration at India Gate attended a conference of the banned Radical Students' Union in Hyderabad earlier this year.
Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma met surrendered Naxalites at a rehabilitation center in Sukma, offering them a visit to the state assembly and directing officials to improve their living conditions and opportunities.
After recent high-intensity operations in the Bastar region and the neutralisation of several senior Maoist leaders, officials say the insurgency has lost its ability to mount large-scale coordinated attacks.
'Sujatha's decision to surrender reflects the deep crisis of confidence that the Maoist ranks are facing in recent times.'
'The biggest game changer has been the belief among Maoists that they can surrender and join the mainstream'
An elusive figure, Hidma is a top leader of the outlawed Naxal outfit CPI (Maoist) and has been on the radar of security agencies for many years.
A hill with an altitude of 5,000 feet, once a hub of the Maoists along the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border, was reclaimed by the security forces after driving out the extremists following nine days of intense anti-Naxal operation, official sources said.
The Maoist who has emerged as the major threat to the security forces in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district.
A massive anti-Naxal operation involving around 10,000 security personnel along the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border entered its fifth day on Friday, with the Maoists reportedly issuing a statement calling for a halt to the exercise and initiating "peace talks." The statement, circulating on social media, claims that the government is resorting to repression and violence despite the possibility of resolving the issue through dialogue. The operation, considered one of the largest counter-insurgency actions in the Bastar region, involves personnel from various units including the Chhattisgarh police, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), and its elite CoBRA unit. The operation, launched on Monday in the densely forested hills of Karregutta and Durgamgutta along the inter-state border, is aimed at targeting PLGA battalion No. 1, the strongest military formation of the Maoists.
Deva recently replaced Hidma as commander of the Maoists' battalion no. 1, the IG added.
Hidma Madavi, who had a Rs 12 lakh reward on his head, was arrested without a single bullet being fired.
Women, children and other family members of the deceased were seen crying while women security personnel were trying to console them.
'Defence, development and democracy is the formula to defeat Naxalism.'
Moti Ram Awalam (30) was an active member of "PLGA Battalion No 1", considered the strongest military formation of the outlawed movement, headed by wanted Maoist "commander" Hidma, and was carrying a reward of Rs 8 lakh on his head, a police official said.
Many IEDs explode even when the troops are on foot and their trigger mechanism gets activated just due to the pressure of the feet. These incidents have injured more than 100 personnel over the last two years, the officer said.
At one location, seven bodies of the troops were recovered and the tree trunks bore bullet shots, indicating that a fierce gun battle took place in the area.
The Maoists rained bullets from light machine guns and used low-intensity improvised explosive devices to mount the attack that went on till evening.
A massive manhunt has been launched to nab Naxal leaders behind the Dantewada massacre as investigations into the worst-ever Maoist attack showed that the ultras had used light machine guns in killing 76 security personnel. Sources in the team conducting the investigations said a survey of site of the attack showed that two LMGs had been used by the Naxals -- who were mainly from Company 3 and Company 8 of the Maoists Central Committee and led by Hidma and Papa Rao.
In a major joint offensive, separate joint teams of security forces, comprising over 2,000 personnel, had launched an anti-Naxal operation from Bijapur and Sukma districts in the South Bastar forests, considered as the Maoist stronghold, on Friday night.
The operation was conducted between June 23 and 25, the police said.
The Naxals used over 50 kilogram of explosives in Chhattisgarh's Sukma, about a year after a dozen jawans were killed in a similar ambush in the district.
Seven policemen were on Saturday killed and 10 persons were injured in a gunbattle with Naxals in the Maoist hotbed of Sukma district in Chhattisgarh.
The Maoists squad 'very discreetly with the aid of locals' kept tracking the movement of the troops when one party of 36, out of the total three, sat down for launch, the strong squad of Naxals, possessing sophisticated weapons, took them by surprise.
Four personnel were also injured in the Naxal attack and two of them were stated to be critical.
He said in most of the Naxal attacks, it has been noticed that villagers were used as human shields by the insurgents during the gun battle.
Fearing imminent arrest and likely reprisals from the CRPF -- 25 of whose jawans were gunned down by the Maoists inside a jungle just 200 to 300 metres away from their homes on the afternoon of April 24 -- young Adivasi men and women in Burkapal abandoned their homes and fled into the jungle.
'I am here to look after people's needs.' 'I am not bothered about who is a Maoist or who is not.'
'The police go into villages, kill villagers, rape women, burn homes, file false cases.' 'They want to empty Bastar of the tribals so that corporate houses can be given a free hand in our land.' 'My father was killed by Naxalites. This is very ironical because the police accuse me of being a Naxalite. If I had been a Naxalite, would I not have been able to prevent my father's death?'
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