A day after Maoists gunned down the founder of anti-Maoist militia Salwa Judum, Mahendra Karma, Prasanna D Zore spoke with Rahul Pandita, author of 'Hello, Bastar: The Untold Story of India's Maoist Movement', for his insights into what he terms as the ageing Maoist leadership's "one final push to their war against the State in their lifetime."
Senior Congress leader V C Shukla, who was injured after heavily-armed Maoists ambushed a convoy of party leaders in Chhattisgarh's Bastar district, was on Sunday airlifted to a hospital in Gurgaon near New Delhi from Raipur
Development and smart policing must go hand in hand in Chhattisgarh, says Sanjeev Nayyar who travelled through several Naxal affected regions of the state.
The Centre and Chhattisgarh government will launch joint action against Maoists in Bastar in the days to come, Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said after talks with Chief Minister Raman.
'This was long expected because Mahendra Karma was on the Maoists's hit list... I don't think the Maoists cared as much about the consequences as they cared about the fact that they had to get rid of Mahendra Karma. Whatever else they do or don't do now, they can say they have revenged Salwa Judum.' Sociologist Nandini Sundar on the Maoist massacre and its aftermath.
Ruling out the role of the army in fighting Naxal violence in the state, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh Monday admitted "security lapses" that led to the killing of key Congress leaders last weekend.
Former leader of opposition in Chhattisgarh assembly Mahendra Karma sustained minor injuries after his vehicle was blown up by suspected Naxalss in Dantewada district of the state, police said.
The high-pitched election speeches skipped corporate issues, unlike during the assembly polls about four months ago.
With the recovery of the bodies, the toll in the lethal Maoist attack on a convoy of Congress leaders on Saturday has climbed to 27, police sources said.
The commander, identified only as Podia, was on Tuesday gunned down by police in Dantewada district, 450km from Raipur, Superintendent of Police Kamlochan Kashyap told PTI.
Claiming responsibility for the deadly attack on a Congress convoy, Maoists on Tuesday said their main objective was to "punish" senior party leaders including Nand Kumar Patel and Mahendra Karma for their "anti-people" policies.
Suspected Naxals on Tuesday shot dead a 25-year-old trainee police constable in a crowded market place at Bhansi town in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh, the police said.
The encounter, which took place in the jungles of Silger, a "liberated" Maoist zone between the naxal hotbed of Jagargunda and Basaguda in Dantewada, was launched on Thursday night by the CRPF from three directions.
Four policemen were injured in an attack by Naxals, who first triggered a landmine blast and then opened fire at them in Sukma district in Bastar region of Chhattisgarh during their 'Bharat Bandh' on Wednesday, police said.
Hidma Madavi, who had a Rs 12 lakh reward on his head, was arrested without a single bullet being fired.
Naxals in Chhattisgarh are allowed to get married but they are forced by their senior leaders in undergoing vasectomy surgical procedure to prevent them from having children.
'Adivasis are a critical national treasure, so we need to protect them.' 'The fight for the tribals of Chhattisgarh needs people from all political parties. It cannot be about any single political group.'
Maoists on Saturday abducted the collector of Sukma district in Bastar area of Chhattisgarh after killing two of his bodyguards. The left-wing ultras intercepted the vehicle of Sukma Collector Alex Paul Menon, an IAS officer, in Keralapal area of the district while he was returning from a programme, top police officials said.
Two Naxals including a woman were arrested in Raipur with arms and ammunition including nearly 300 live cartridges, the police said.
The Chhattisgarh government has unleashed a "soft" tactic in its war against the Naxals - residential schools for poor children. Devjyot Ghoshal travels to Dantewada, Bastar and Sukma to see for himself
Would the Maoists lose the support of the middle-class and urban intelligentsia by continuing to use kidnapping as a propaganda tool? Dr P V Ramana analyses
'There is need to invent another enemy.' 'If you can add Maoists to Muslims, the tukde-tukde thread will tie in nicely.' 'You might even have a 'nation in grave danger' story by the summer of 2019,' notes Shekhar Gupta.
70 per cent voting was recorded across 18 constituencies of Bastar and Rajnandgaon till 3 pm in the first phase of assembly election in Chhattisgarh, where violence by Naxals who have called for a poll boycott left a Central Reserve Police Force jawan dead.
Sanjeev Nayyar offers a roster of things to do to see the India of our dreams.
Rahul Gandhi attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Chhattisgarh for its failure to act against Maoists responsible for killing many Congress leaders in May.
With Naxals watching the highways, cash to Bastar banks comes via copter.
A Chhattisgarh Armed Force jawan was killed by Naxals in Chhattisgarh's insurgency-hit Sukma district on Saturday. Constable Shivkumar Sidar was unwell for the last few days and was going for treatment to Dornpal from Temelwada in a bus where he was abducted by a group of Maoists and was killed, Inspector General, Bastar Range SRP Kalluri, said.
'Killing 40, 50 or 100 Maoist leaders will not solve the issue. If there were no Maoists tomorrow it does not mean that violence will go away. And that is what the government should worry about,' says Rahul Pandita, author of Hello, Bastar: The Untold Story of India's Maoist Movement.
An AK-47 rifle, one SLR, three Insas rifles and a .303 rifle were also recovered from the encounter spot.
'This is for the first time that a strong, solid evidence-based investigation has happened.' 'It can meet international standards and put the onus on the Pakistanis.'
The families of policemen being held hostage by Maoists in Bhopalpatnam, near the Chhattisgarh- Andhra Pradesh border, have appealed for their release without delay. Maoists abducted the seven policemen last Sunday, including an assistant sub inspector, a special police officer and three constables. The bodies of three policemen were recovered a day later from a dense forest in Bijapur District of Bastar region. Four are still missing.
Two Central Reserve Police Force personnel were killed and another was injured in an encounter with Maoists in Chhattisgarh's insurgency-hit Bijapur district on Sunday, the police said.
The gunbattle took place at a forest in Kistaram area bordering Telangana
Fearing leakage of their strategies ahead of Lok Sabha polls, Naxals are keeping a close watch on people who could act as informers and pass on information using mobile phones in villages of their hot-bed Bastar.
Tourist destinations have also come under the scanner of Naxalites as rebels detonated a powerful blast at one of the enchanting sites near Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh on Monday morning in a move aimed to unleash a reign of terror among visitors.
While there is every sign of grinding poverty in the villages, the towns of Bastar and Jagdalpur have big and bustling markets.
The explosion took place in a hilly area in Bacheli in Dantewada when the personnel were returning to their camp after purchasing groceries from market.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, used by United States' forces to track down Taliban militants, successfully flew over the dense forests of Bastar in Chhattisgarh in the first trial run for anti-Naxal operations.
'No one is saying that the police can become the solution, the police have to become the first respondent to create a situation where other people can enter,' says Chhattisgarh DGP Vishwa Ranjan.
The Naxals on Wednesday carried out two powerful blasts in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district, injuring two Central Reserve Police Force personnel. The blast comes a day before Lok Sabha polls in the area.
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