A new outfit calling itself M2 and claiming to support the Hindus and tribal people has surfaced in Orissa, raising doubts on whether the Maoist cadre in the state are divided. The outfit came out in support of the Hindus and tribal people after the Communist Party of India-Maoists claimed responsibility for the murder of religious leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati in August.
The Maoist threat should be taken with utmost seriously and the menace should be dealt with in every possible way, political leaders in Jharkhand opined.
Maoist ultras have asked Bihar assembly Speaker Udai Narain Choudhary to present the 'hishab-kitab' (a complete account) of the work he has done in his constituency.Choudhary, the first Dalit Speaker of the Bihar assembly, is a legislator from the Maoist-infested Imamganj in Gaya district. The Maoists have threatened that they will not allow polls to be held in that area and urged people to boycott elections in the constituency.
There is a "high probability" of political leaders coming under a Chhatisgarh-type attack during their panchayat poll campaign in Maoist-hit Jangalmahal in West Bengal, intelligence sources here have indicated.
The draft agreement was struck on November 8 and had been due to be signed last week but was postponed as both sides said some issues still had to be resolved. A Tuesday deadline was then set.
The Communist Party of India-Maoist denied their involvement in the Thursday's carnage in which 16 people were killed in Bihar's Khagaria district. "It is certainly not the operation carried out by our cadres... and we are still not aware who perpetrated the violence," a senior CPI-Maoist leader, pleading anonymity, told a group of mediapersons.
Even as the slain top Maoist leader Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad was cremated in Hyderabad in the presence of hundreds of mourners, including writers, poets and activists, the CPI Maoist has announced a week-long protest against what they call a "fake encounter".
The Communist Party of India - Maoist on Thursday rubbished charges leveled by the Communist Party of India Marxist, that the Trinamool Congress was patronising Maoists, saying the Left Front party was trying to keep itself afloat by making such allegations. "There is no need for us to have the CPI-M or the Trinamool Congress as allies," Maoist leader Kishenji said while reacting to the CPI-M's allegations that the outfit was protected by the TC.
'We are ready for talks with the Centre and West Bengal Government if the intellectuals, who visited the troubled Lalgarh area last Sunday, arrange for a meeting,' CPI-Maoist leader Sagar said in a statement.
The outfit also added that the People's Liberation Guerilla Army into the People's Liberation Army.
The 24th CPI(M) Party Congress commenced in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, with interim coordinator Prakash Karat emphasizing the need for Left unity to combat "Hindutva neo-fascism." He criticized the BJP-RSS government, accusing it of representing a "Hindutva-corporate nexus" and displaying "neo-fascist characteristics." Other Left leaders, including CPI general secretary D Raja and CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, echoed calls for unity and condemned the current political climate in India.
Maoists on Friday called a 72-hour bandh in five states and a partial bandh in three states to protest against talks, scheduled to be held in Kolkata, between the state governments and the Centre on issues of price rise and internal security. "We call for a 72-hour bandh on February 7, 8 and 9 fully in five states and partially in three states," said Maoist leader Kishenji. "The states where the bandh will be imposed fully are Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal."
The wife of Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda, whose outfit claimed to have abducted Italian national Paolo Basusco, on Tuesday appealed to the ultras not to harm the hostage.
The memorandum said that the responsibility of overcoming the impact of the Maoist violence is not the responsibility of the state governments alone; it is a phenomenon that spans across several states. Therefore, the Union government also has a responsibility.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has alleged that Maoists and organisations backed by them were mobilising people for the August 9 rally of the Trinamool Congress at Lalgarh in West Bengal, which would again lead to tension in the area.
A Bihar court issued fresh non-bailable warrants of arrest against 11 Nepali Maoist leaders who include 2 politburo members and six lawmakers on Thursday for their alleged involvement in anti-India activities.
After Maoist leader Kishenji's recent phone call to Environment Secretary M L Meena, the West Bengal government on Tuesday cautioned officials against speaking to leaders of outlawed organisations. "Why should any of our officers talk to Kishenji? We don't need discussions with any leader of an outlawed organisations like the Communist party of India - Maoist," Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen told reporters. Sen, however, ruled out issuing a circular to government officials.
It is a blatantly illegal and no holds barred war against the Indian State, against the idea and existence of the Indian democracy and must be dealt with an iron hand.
Top Maoist leader Kishenji claimed on Tuesday that his oufit was not involved in the May 28 Jnaneswari Express disaster in West Midnapore district that claimed 148 lives.
Dinesh Tati (23), resident of Palnar village in Gangaloor police station limits, was held on Friday from a tractor showroom in Bijapur town, Additional Superintendent of Police Chandrakant Gavarna said.
After a considerable delay, New Delhi now wants to speed up the process of the dam as no significant progress could be made during the last few years due to heightened Maoist activities.
The AP police moved the application with a production warrant issued by the additional judicial magistrate of Karimnagar district, stating that Ghandy, an ideologue of the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist, was wanted in a case registered with the Karimnagar (rural) police station in 2008. The court has put up the application for hearing on Wednesday
Kishenji suggested some names of mediators, like a group of intellectuals including writer Arundhati Roy, singer and Trinamool Congress MP Kabir Suman, B D Sharma,, Gopal Narlekar and Ramanna.
Communist Party of India-Maoist central committee member G Saraiah alias Azad and his wife Padma were shot dead in an exchange of fire with Greyhound commandos in the forests between Kantanapalli-Rampuram villages in Eturunagaram mandal. Azad was suspected of organising the killing of 16 tribals in Nizamabad district in 2002.
The two-day shutdown has been called to protest the killing of Maoist leader Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad in Andhra Pradesh's Adilabad District last week.
Nepal's Maoist leaders have suggested a referendum to decide the fate of the monarchy if the country is not declared a republic through parliament. Maoist chairman Prachanda and his deputy Dr Babu Ram Bhattarai, recommended a referendum to Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala during their meeting on Sunday.
A top leader of the Communist Party of India -Maoist has gone missing and the organisation suspects that he is in the custody of special investigations bureau of Andhra Pradesh police.
A day after 26 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed and seven were injured in a Maoist ambush in Chhattisgarh''s Narayanpur District, the rebels have called for a shutdown in Jharkhand, Bengal, Orissa, Bihar and Chhattisgarh.
In a prize catch, the West Bengal police on Tuesday night arrested top Maoist leader Venkateswar Reddy, the suspected mastermind of the attack that killed 24 Eastern Frontier Rifles personnel in Silda in West Midnapore district. Additional Director General of Police of the Criminal Investigation Department Raj Kanojia said Reddy, alias Telugu Dipak, was arrested from Sarshuna on the southern fringes of the city.
Opposition Communist Party of India-Marxist in West Bengal on Thursday said that the loss of one individual with the killing of top Maoist leader Kishenji would not greatly affect the ultras as they have the support of "anti-national" forces.
Talks between the Maoists and the West Bengal government seems imminent with the Maoist leader Kishenji informing the media late on Wednesday evening that he was ready for discussions.
Top Maoist leader Kishenji has again become active in West Bengal's Jungle Mahal area, according to intelligence reports. "Kishenji was present in more than one meeting held in Lalgarh and adjacent areas in West Midnapore district in the last half of June, in all probability on June 22 and 23," said the reports. Joint operations in the area have come to a virtual standstill and six teams of the elite CoBRA force have moved to neighbouring Jharkhand.
Alleging that a Union minister was openly supporting Maoists, the Left and the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday joined hands in the Rajya Sabha to slam Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee for her controversial remarks on the killing of Maoist leader Azad
With barely a week left for the panchayat polls in West Bengal's Purulia district, maoist ultras have killed two CPI-M leaders in consecutive days. Dubraj Hembram, a local committee member of the party, was shot dead by a gang of maoists at his village Hitinglohar on Monday night.
Just like veteran Marxist leader and former West Bengal Chief Minister Joyti Basu, a senior Maoist leader, who is currently lodged in a Bihar jail has offered to donate his body for medical research.
Top Maoist leader Kishenji on Wednesday turned down Union Home Minister P Chidamabaram's conditional offer of talks saying that the government should "first stop violence".
Maoists on Thursday called for a 48-hour bandh in West Bengal, Jharkhand and Orissa from April 26 in support of their demand for producing four of their arrested cadre before court. Chandrasekhar, Rajen, Krishna and Rajesh were arrested by security forces between April 14 and April 15 from different areas in Jhargram subdivision of West Midnapore district, but have not been produced in court, a Maoist leader claimed.
"I don't think there's any change. There's no change in their status," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, commenting on the issue in the backdrop of a meeting between a top American envoy in Kathmandu Nancy Powell and Maoist leader Prachanda.
