A 60-page report by the Human Rights Watch titled 'Between Two Sets of Guns: Attacks on Civil Society Activists in India's Maoist Conflict', documents human rights abuses against activists in India's Orissa, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh states. This is the final part of the three-part series
Having lost six of their men -- including two high-ranking officers -- the security forces, who restarted their battle against the Maoist insurgency with renewed vigour, are buoyant for one particular reason. Operation Red Hunt in Chattisgarh is a psychological victory for the forces that were till recently firmly on the backfoot in their fight against red terror.
Maoists blew up a panchayat office in Jharkhand's Lohardaga district, police said.
The threat posed by the burgeoning Maoist movement is grave and if it is not controlled in time, the Indian democracy could be in serious danger, believes Mahendra Lal Kumawat, former director general of the Border Security Force and former special secretary (internal security).
The Centre is keen on a probe to find out if the violence in the Maruti plant in Manesar has any Maoist link.
With the Naxals facing the heat of an imminent concerted operation by the security forces, a top Maoist leader on Thursday said the ultras were ready for talks 'if there was ceasefire on both sides' and withdrawal of the paramilitary forces deployed in the Naxal-hit states.
Besides weakening the Maoists' lethal capacities and reducing violence, it is essential to ensure that governance is improved, so that those prone to sympathising with, or supporting, the Maoists would, in the long run, realise the needlessness and futility of doing so, says P V Ramana and Raj Bala Rana.
The reference to CRPP as a Maoist front organisation came in a written reply in Rajya Sabha by Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Home Affairs.
An Andhra Pradesh based couple, allegedly behind the spurt in Naxal violence in Bihar and Jharkhand, has been arrested.
The bandh, which began at post midnight on Wednesday is in protest against the reported arrest of Maoist cadres in neighbouring Odisha.
Maoists on Saturday abducted a Member of Legislative Assembly from the Biju Janata Dal while he was returning home from Koraput district, leading to suspension of negotiations between the authorities and ultras for the release of two Italian nationals taken hostage by the rebels ten days ago.
Chhattisgarh, carved out of Madhya Pradesh in November 2000, is confronting the menace for decades with 12 of its 16 districts in the Naxals' grip.
The government will use any element of its 'national power' against Maoists under a new policy to deal with the extremists and not hold peace talks with them till they renounce violence and express faith in democracy.
There was a half hour firefight between the Maoists and the police on Friday night at a jungle under Sorada police station area bordering Kandhamal district, before the ultras fled, a senior police official who took part in the operation told PTI.
India for the first time has said that the Maoists are getting arms from China, which is a "big supplier" of small weapons.
Bowing to demand by Maoists that it withdraw cases against 13 prisoners for the freedom of Biju Janata Dal MLA Jhina Hikaka, the Odisha government on Wednesday announced that it was agreeable to do so after expiry of the deadline set by the ultras at 5 pm.
Maoists exploded a series of landmines in the forests of Latehar district and exchanged gunfire with security personnel early on Thursday before the polling began for the Chatra Lok Sabha seat in Jharkhand.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh said that no dialogue should be held with the outlawed Maoists who carried out a deadly attack recently in Chhattisgarh against Congress party leaders.
'A prohibition is not going to have any influence on our party's activities. In fact, it will only infuse into us a new sense of grit to counter the government opposition,' says Gour Chakraborty, the CPI (Maoist) spokesman.
Police sources said that two years ago a rich farmer Maheshwar Singh was killed by Maoists.
Ghandy, 66 told reporters after the acquittal that he had disassociated himself from the banned outfit of Communist Party of India-Maoist.
Marathi author Anand Karandikar on Tuesday announced that he would return his award in protest against the Maharashtra government withdrawing an award for a Marathi translation of the memoir of alleged Maoist ideologue Kobad Ghandy by author Anagha Lele.
Italian tourist Claudio Colangelo, who was released on Sunday after being in Maoist captivity for 11 days, said he became victim of an ongoing tussle between the ultras and the government.
'Menon's kidnappers are unlikely to behave like the radical Islamists who have a tendency to displease their own people and community. The Maoists are shrewd and will bargain hard, but not behave recklessly. Young Christians are their primary constituency and they bank heavily on them in the jungles.'
Kabir Kala Manch activists had allegedly made provocative speeches leading to violence at Koregaon Bhima in the district, according to an FIR registered at Vishrambaug police station after the event.
The labourers were released on Friday night at a forest adjoining the villages where the labour camps from where they were abducted were located.
Indicating active involvement of Maoist elements in the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Laxamananda Saraswati and four others, the Crime Branch of Orissa police on Friday submitted chargesheet against seven accused. The chargesheet, filed in the court of sub-divisional judicial magistrate, Baliguda in Kandhamal district four months after the killing, said Maoist leaders had formed a local militia involving villagers for the crime.
"There were some women cadre also in the Maoist contingent that attacked the train on Thursday," Additional Director General of Police (ADG), Law and Order S K Bhardwaj told PTI.
Investigators on Friday told a Delhi court that Mohammad Omar Madni, a suspected terrorist, has disclosed about the links between Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Tayiba and Maoists in Jharkhand.
In one of the biggest encounters in the recent times with the Maoists, involving the Andhra Pradesh police and Central paramilitary forces, 10 left-wing ultras were killed while scores of others were injured.
CRPF troopers confront loneliness, poor network connectivity, poor work conditions, dismal work-life balance, and immense psychological stress.
Security forces help tribal woman in labour pain to safely reach hospital.
J B Punamagar, the Butawal-based reporter of Himal Khabarpatrika, was abducted by a group of Maoists while he was reporting in Kapilvastu district, according to the Federation of Nepalese Journalists.
Shocked over the audacious Naxal attack in Chhattisgarh, political parties today favoured use of all legitimate means to "quell" armed insurgency, underlining that they cannot accept the "pernicious Maoist doctrine".
Maoists in Chhattisgarh have invited the state government for peace talks provided a 'conducive and pro-people atmosphere' is created.
This post Office in Bengaluru has been constructed using 3D printing technology.
Branded a Maoist by the Maharashtra police Arun Ferreira was released on bail on January 5. At his first press conference after his release he spoke about his ordeal and how the State has been muffling the voice of dissent.
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