Signalfire

Students from different political affiliations are staging a huge protest at one of India’s top universities.

They are angry over plans at Jadavpur University – renowned for its engineering and science faculties – to install a closed-circuit TV network.

The students have started a “gherao” (encirclement) of the office of the university’s vice-chancellor, registrar and some senior officials.

They have been confined to their offices for more than 24 hours.

“This is a clear infringement of our freedoms. We are not terrorists,” said Lokeswari Dasgupta, of the United Students Democratic Forum, which is leading the protests at the Calcutta university.

University authorities do not admit publicly that Maoist activities in the Jadavpur campus is the cause for planning a CCTV network.

But unofficially they say that a recent press conference held by a Maoist leader in the university premises – at a time when the police was trying to arrest her – may have provoked the authorities to improve the security arrangements.

Maoist leader Debolina Ghosh was a former student at Jadavpur University and she dared the police to arrest her in the university during the press conference.

But the students say the funds to be spent on the 16 proposed CCTVs in the Jadavpur campus are a “complete waste”.

“Why should they spend two million rupees ($42,991) on CCTVs when we get terrible food in hostels, have serious problems in getting drinking water and are not provided wi-fi internet connection in the campus?,” asked Palash Ghosh, the general secretary of the engineering department of the university.

University Vice-chancellor Pradip Ghosh is unwilling to back down, despite being confined to his office for a day.

“The students are unnecessarily agitated over an issue which does not fall within their jurisdiction. CCTVs are absolutely essential for the security of the campus and in a month they will be installed at the gates and other strategic locations,” he said.

The students are also protesting against a code of conduct that the university authorities is seeking to impose.

Among other points, the code makes it obligatory for students to show their identity cards at the gates while entering the campus – and for visitors to leave the university premises by 9pm.

Jadavpur University has been a hotbed of left wing radical activity since Maoism first took roots in West Bengal in the 1970s.

But despite its radical traditions, it has been acknowledged as a “centre of excellence” and is closely linked to India’s nuclear programme.

Maoist guerrills Thursday triggered a landmine blast in Orissa’s Malkangiri district, blowing up a panchayat office, the second blast in the region this week, police said. No one was injured in the explosion.

‘Around 30-40 rebels trigerred the explosion at the panchayat office at Materu village under Kalimela police station area, some 40 km from the district headquarters of Malkangiri,’ police officer Dabashis Mishra told IANS.

‘Nobody was inside the building when the blast took place. The building has been partially damaged,’ he said.

The rebels blew up a block office building at Padia under the same police station area Sep 7.

Malkangiri district, about 620 km from Bhubaneswar, is considered a Maoist stronghold.

The rebels often target schools, panchayats and other government buildings in the region as they suspect these buildings may be used to house security forces during anti-Maoist operations.

– Indo-Asian News Service

Raipur, Sep 8 (IANS) Seven Maoist guerrillas, including six women, were arrested with arms and ammunition in Chhattisgarh Wednesday for killing five security personnel in an ambush last month, police said.

The seven, amongst the dozens of Maoists wanted for the Aug 29 killing of five security personnel in Kanker, were arrested from a forest in the district that is part of the 40,000 sq km Bastar region along with Dantewada, Bijapur, Bastar and Narayanpur districts.

“We had been tracking the Maoists for several days and finally they were trapped today. Six of the seven Maoists apprehended were females and had been involved in an ambush on a joint patrolling party in Kanker district’s Bhuski village Aug 29, in which five jawans were martyred,” Ajay Yadav, Kanker district superintendent of police, told IANS over phone.

The arrested rebels also included minors. Six guns and some detonators were recovered from them.

Lakhan Patle, sub-divisional officer of police (SDOP) of Bhanupratappur where the Maoists were arrested, said a few of the arrested were minors.

“We have got vital leads from the arrested rebels about other Maoists who were involved in Aug 29 attack. More Maoists will be arrested soon,” said Patle.

About 100 Maoists had ambushed a patrol drawn from the Border Security Force (BSF), district force (DF) and special police officers (SPOs) in Bhuski village in Kanker district, 250 km from here.

Amongst the five killed were three BSF troopers.

SRINAGAR, India — Tens of thousands of troops enforced a rigid curfew in India’s portion of Kashmir on Tuesday, wary of violent demonstrations after the deaths of four protesters who were shot dead by security forces.

The mostly Muslim Kashmir region has been roiled by anti-government demonstrations and clashes between protesters and government forces for the past three months. Monday’s deaths brought to 69 the number of people killed in the civil unrest against rule from predominantly Hindu India.

The streets of Srinagar, Indian-held Kashmir’s main city, and other towns were deserted Tuesday with soldiers in riot gear turning out in full force.

On Monday, four people, including two teenage boys, were killed when security forces fired live ammunition into crowds to disperse rock-throwing protesters in Palhalan, a village north of Srinagar, police said.

That led to more protests, with local residents saying there was no clash and that soldiers opened fire on a peaceful protest without provocation.

Anti-India sentiment runs deep in Kashmir, which is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed by both in its entirety. Protesters reject Indian sovereignty over Kashmir and want independence, or a merger with predominantly Muslim Pakistan.

The recent unrest is reminiscent of the late 1980s, when protests against New Delhi’s rule sparked an armed conflict that has killed more than 68,000 people, mostly civilians.

The state government ordered a probe into Monday’s shooting. In the past, human rights groups have denounced such investigations as weak moves to calm public anger.

Demonstrations against Indian rule continued until early Tuesday with tens of thousand of Kashmiris chanting, “Go India, go back” and “We want freedom.” Angry protesters attacked police stations with rocks and petrol bombs, a police officer said.

Troops fired warning shots and tear gas to quell the protests, he said. At least 14 people were wounded in the clashes. The police officer spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters.

Armoured vehicles patrolled the streets Tuesday and government forces used barbed-wire barricades to seal off public squares and neighbourhoods in Srinagar.

3 September

About 24 people were hurt Friday in new clashes between government forces and Muslim protesters in Indian Kashmir, where weeks of unrest have left over 60 people dead.

Five people were hurt when security forces opened fire to quell stone-throwing protesters in northern Baramulla town Friday evening, a police statement said.

Two seriously injured people were shifted to the main hospital in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir.

Some 19 more people, including eight policemen, were injured in clashes between security forces and anti-India protesters at four more locations across Muslim-majority Kashmir valley, police said.

About 65 protesters and bystanders have been killed over the past 11 weeks, mostly by security forces who have opened fire on rallies after being pelted with stones.

Government forces have struggled to contain the outpouring of anger triggered by the police killing of a schoolboy in early June. Protests against Indian rule began in Srinagar and have spread through the valley.

Meanwhile, thousands of people Friday defied a ban on protest marches and held a fresh demonstration in Srinagar.

Chanting, “Go India, go back!” protesters emerged from the region’s main mosque Jamia Masjid in Srinagar and marched through the streets.

They were led by top separatist Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who is also the head imam at the mosque.

Senior separatists Syed Ali Geelani and Yasin Malik led two separate rallies against Indian rule in Srinagar and the neighbouring district of Budgam.

Separatists have threatened to continue the protests until India declares Kashmir an “international dispute,” pulls out troops from inhabited areas, repeals tough security laws and releases all political prisoners.

Separatists have spurned recent offers of talks by New Delhi in protest against the killings by security forces.

Kashmir has faced rolling curfews and separatist-sponsored strikes since the first killing on June 11.
AFP

Bangalore, Sept 4, DHNS

More than a dozen students of BSF Institute of Technology protesting against the alleged high-handedness of their prin- cipal sustained injuries as they were forcibly evicted from the college main gate at Yelahanka on Saturday.
Students of BSF Institute of Technology staging a protest in front of the college on Saturday. Students injured when BSF personnel forcibly evicted them. According to police, trouble started when principal B Anil Kumar sought to discipline the students who were allegedly indulging in “questionable” activities.

Protesting this, a section of the students took to the streets and attempted to block the road. The police, intervened and asked them not to disrupt the traffic. They also asked the students to move into the campus and sort out their differences with the principal.

The students gathered in front of main gate of the institute and started shouting slogans against the principal. They tried to block the movement of officers and vehicles also. The students threw stones at the windowpanes of the sentry’s room and a few vehicles compelling BSF service men to evict the protesters. A few students who sustained injuries in the melee have been admitted to the Government Hospital in Yelahanka.

According to sources, a few students had gone ‘astray’  by indulging in activities – smoking, playing cards etc – banned on the campus. The principal asked the erring students to vacate the campus insisting that they bring their parents.

The students, however, alleged that the principal was harassing them without any reason.
“He is evicting us from the hostel and the classroom for trivial reasons. The authorities should act against him,” Manekappa, a student, demanded. They accused the principal of harassing a lady teacher.

A complaint of unlawful assembly and damage to public property has been registered.  No one has been arrested, according to sources.

Calcutta, Sept. 4: West Midnapore police today said they had arrested Manoj Mahato during a “massive combing operation” in Jungle Mahal although the People’s Committee chief’s family had claimed yesterday that he had been picked up from his house.

The police had earlier denied having arrested Manoj, 21.

West Midnapore superintendent of police Manoj Verma said at a news conference today: “Yesterday and today, we carried out intense raids with the joint forces in parts of Goaltore, Lalboni, Salboni and Lalgarh. During one of the raids, we arrested Manoj Mahato from Kantapahari.”

Verma said a 9mm pistol and cartridges had been seized from Manoj. The SP added that another “senior Maoist leader”, Naba Kumar Mahato, had also been arrested from the same place.

Manoj’s mother Durga had told The Telegraph yesterday that a group of armed people, dressed in camouflage gear, had surrounded their Birkar home at 7am and taken away Manoj with them. Neighbour, too, had made the same claim.

The People’s Committee leader’s father, Kalipada, had claimed that Manoj had been taken to the CRPF camp at Kantapahari. Kalipada had said that when he went to the camp, he was told that Manoj had been taken to Midnapore town.

Verma denied these claims. “People have their individual claims about Manoj’s arrest but the fact is, he has been arrested following a raid,” he said.

The police said Manoj was wanted in at least seven cases relating to murder, sedition and arson.

Sources said Manoj could be charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

Five Maoists arrested in Jharkhand
2010-09-04
Five Maoist rebels were arrested from two districts of Jharkhand Saturday, police said.

According to police, three guerrillas, including a woman, belonging to the Jharkhand Prastuti Committee (JPC) were arrested from Mangra village under Barwadih police station of Latehar district, around 140 km from Ranchi.

A rifle, live cartridges and Maoist literature were recovered from the arrested rebels.

Two guerrillas belonging to the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) were arrested from the jungle area of Vishnugarh police station of Hazaribagh district, around 145 km from Ranchi.

Two BSF troopers injured by Maoists
2010-09-05

Two Border Security Force (BSF) troopers were injured in a gunfight with Maoists Sunday in Chhattisgarh’s restive Bastar region, police said.

The battle, lasting for about two hours, took place in the Antagarh forested pocket of Kanker district when Maoists opened fire on a group of BSF men on a routine patrol.

The BSF retaliated but two troopers received gun shots. They were taken to Raipur by helicopter for medical attention, sources here at the police headquarters told IANS.

A few live bombs were recovered from the attack site where the Maoist attackers melted into the forests after the fighting, the sources said.

Kanker, along with four other districts, is part of the the 40,000 sq km mineral rich Bastar region which has been the nerve centre of the guerrillas for the last three decades.

From hunter to hunted: Salwa Judum leaders have nowhere to hide
2010-09-05
Raipur: Leaders of Salwa Judum, the anti-Maoist civil militia, say they are being hunted down in a planned manner by the rebels even as the Chhattisgarh government, which was widely accused of arming the movement at one time, looks the other way.

The movement, which took birth in 2005, grew under government patronage and was blamed for the escalation of violence and for victimising and alienating thousands of tribal villagers in the Bastar region, has almost fizzled out in the last two years.

Now police also confirm that Salwa Judum leaders are being killed.

‘Maoists have assigned a separate unit for killing Judum leaders and the rebels are getting regular success in wiping them out,’ Mahendra Karma, a former Bastar MP and Congress heavyweight who was credited for the launch of the movement.

‘About 200 Judum leaders have been killed in the past two years and some 400 face the threat of being killed any moment,’ Karma told IANS.

Raghu Singh, a key Judum leader in Bijapur, was killed by Maoists on July 22. Dozens of Maoists on July 8 attacked the house of Avdhesh Singh Gautam, another leader who is also linked to the Congress, in Dantewada district. He survived, but his son received a bullet wound and two others were killed.

Rights activists say under Salwa Judum, civilians were armed by the state government to go after Maoist supporters in the Bastar region in a planned manner, even though the authorities called it a spontaneous people’s uprising against the rebels.

‘The state government has distanced itself completely from the movement, leading to the collapse of the biggest popular public resistance against Maoists,’ said Karma, 60, who tops the hit-list of Maoists and has survived several attempts on his life.

Over 50,000 people became homeless as a fallout of Salwa Judum. Mostly tribal poor, they were uprooted from their forested villages and the government rehabilitated them in 23 makeshift camps in Dantewada and Bijapur districts.

Karma said the movement has been dormant for about two years now – no rallies have been held during the period and its leaders are living in relief camps. He said whenever they go outside their camps, Maoists target them as the government does not provide them security.

Chhattisgarh’s director general of police Vishwa Ranjan said, ‘Everybody, including police, know that Salwa Judum leaders face a serious threat, as Maoists keep track of them.

‘They get police escorts, but they get killed when they leave the camps for some work or visit their native villages without informing police. Judum leaders fall prey only when they leave the relief camps without informing police because at the camps they are fully protected.’

Anil Vibhakar, a Raipur-based columnist, said, ‘The Chhattisgarh government succumbed to the pressure of rights activists and pulled out support from the Salwa Judum and the movement collapsed. Now its leaders are either dead or living in fear of being killed any moment.’

The state’s first chief minister and Congress leader, Ajit Jogi, who was one of the strongest critics of the movement, said in the state assembly in July while referring to Salwa Judum, ‘the movement destroyed tribal culture and displaced thousands of poor tribals. It also became a hub of corruption.’

He came down heavily on the state’s BJP government for fully supporting the Salwa Judum. ‘The Maoists have a list of all leaders associated with the Salwa Judum whom they will wipe out as had happened with a similar movement in Bastar called Jan Jagran.’

The Bastar region is made up of five districts – Dantewada, Bijapur, Narayanpur, Bastar and Kanker – and is a considered the nerve centre of Maoist militants in India.

Chhattisgarh has witnessed over 1,948 Maoist attacks in the past three years claiming the lives of at least 418 civilians and 435 policemen.

Maoists kill 86 policemen since 2005 in Bihar: Report
September 5 2010
Patna: Maoists have killed 86 policemen in Bihar since 2005, being claimed in a official report. According to the statistics provided by the state police headquarters, 86 policemen and 188 civilians lost their lives in various Maoists attacks in Bihar.

The state government has initiated steps for ensuring speedy trial of cases related to Maoists and 226 cases have been disposed off by courts between 2007 and 2009 in which 109 Maoists were convicted.

In the mean time, Maoists have claimed that they have freed the 3 policemen, who were abducted in Lakhisarai district.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had said on Saturday the all-party meeting had reached a consensus on appealing to the Maoists to release the hostages unconditionally.

He said on Sunday that he had no knowledge about Maoists releasing the three policemen abducted during the Lakhisarai encounter on August 29.

2010-09-03

Maoists Friday alleged that the spokesperson of the pro-Maoist tribal body Peoples’ Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA) was arrested by the police. However, the police denied the charge.

According to PCAPA members, Manoj Mahato was arrested by police Friday morning from his native Birkara village in Lalgarh area of West Midnapore district.

Manoj Mahato’s father, Kalipada Mahato, alleged that security personnel raided their house and adjacent areas Thursday night in search of his son. As Manoj was not present in the house at that time, they went back.

‘Friday morning some policemen came to our house and took Manoj with them. They said they were taking him to the Joint Forces camp in Kantapahari of Lalgarh,’ Kalipada told IANS.

‘We rushed to Kantapahari camp where the the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans said that Manoj was taken to the police headquarters at Midnapore town,’ he added.

The police officers in Midnapore, however, denied Manoj’s arrest, said Kalipada.

West Midnapore Police Superintendent Manoj Verma said: ‘We have no knowledge about the arrest of Manoj Mahato’.

‘Manoj Mahato was wanted in several cases including sedition, murder and looting of government properties,’ he added.

A prominent PCAPA leader expressed fear that the police could stage a fake shootout and kill Manoj. ‘We are taking legal advice and would announce our plan in the evening,’ said the PCAPA leader, who did not want to be named.

However, Kalipada Mahato, said: ‘We would lodge a complaint against the police for kidnapping Manoj with the Lalgarh police station’.

NEW DELHI — Thousands of workers in India ransacked the offices of a refinery run by British resource giant Vedanta, media reports said Thursday, in the latest of a series of difficulties for the company.

About 35 contract workers were arrested after buildings were attacked at the aluminium refinery at Lanjigarh in the eastern state of Orissa on Tuesday.

Vedanta received a major setback last month when its plans for a mine to supply the Lanjigarh refinery with bauxite were blocked by the government as the land was sacred to local tribes.

Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh accused Vedanta, owned by Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal, of violating environmental rules and showing “blatant disregard” for thousands of Dongria and Kutia Kondh tribespeople.

Ramesh also accused Vedanta of starting a six-fold expansion of the aluminium project without approval.

The violence at the refinery was due to Vedanta cancelling short-term staff contracts related to its expansion plans, the Economic Times reported.

The refinery was forced to halt work when 2,000 protesting workers carrying sticks and sharp objects cut off the power supply, the paper said.

Vedanta chief operating officer Mukesh Kumar estimated 200,000 dollars of property had been damaged by the protests.

Suspected Maoists Thursday shot dead two people in West Bengal’s West Midnapore district, police said.

‘Two bodies were found at Ektal village near Aguiboni area of Jhargram sub-division in the district this morning (Thursday). The victims were shot dead by the ultra-Left rebels and Maoist posters were recovered from the spot,’ Jhargram police chief Praveen Tripathi said.

The victims are yet two be identified. The posters stated that they were supporters of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and acted as police informers, and hence were given capital punishment, Tripathi said.

Local CPI-M leaders, admitting that the two men were their supporters, claimed that the duo was among those who were missing for the past few months.

Meanwhile, one Maoist carrying weapons was Thursday morning detained by the local people at Panchukhali near Radhanagar under Jhargram sub-division and later handed over to the police.

Kalu Mahato, a member of Samiran Hansda’s squad that is active in the Jhargram area, was caught by the villagers Wednesday late night when a gang of six armed Maoists assembled at Panchukhali village, Tripathi said.

‘While interrogating Kalu, it was revealed that he was among the six armed Maoists who attacked a government contractor’s house in Dohiguri village Wednesday night as he refused to pay the amount demanded by them,’ Tripathi added.

‘The armed group was assigned to eliminate the contractor, but having failed to shoot him down, they went to Panchukhali village near Radhanagar to conduct a recce as the villagers have recently formed an anti-Maoist committee to prevent Maoist attack,’ he said.

When the gang assembled, the villagers who were conducting a night patrol chased them and were able to catch Kalu Mahato.

‘The villagers informed us and Kalu Mahato was taken under police custody,’ said Tripathi.

Residents of several villages in Radhanagar area protested before the police Thursday morning, demanding a police camp be set up in their area to protect them from rebel attacks.

The villagers of the Radhanagar area were the first in the district to set up an anti-Maoist committee and also the Peoples’ Committee Against Police Atrocities in their area.

Patna, Sept. 1: Four captured policemen are caught in a battle of nerves between the government and the Maoists, three days after they were taken hostage following Sunday’s gun battle in Lakhisarai’s Kajra hills.

The rebels have extended their “deadline”, giving the government until 10am tomorrow to release their jailed colleagues in exchange for the freedom of the four policemen — Rupesh Sinha, Abhay Yadav, Ehtesham Khan and Lukas Tete.

Seven policemen were killed in the botched operation to trap Maoist guerrillas.

Sources said the Maoists were looking for a safe passage for their cadre after releasing their hostages.

Bihar police, which had initially dismissed the deadline of 4pm today as “unofficial”, said they were chalking out a strategy to get the men released.

Additional director-general (headquarters) P.K. Thakur said the police would continue search operations in the hilly terrain of Lakhisarai, Jamui and Munger districts.

“Our men are on the job and efforts are being made to rescue the four policemen from the clutches of the Maoists,” Thakur said, adding that a helicopter had been pressed into service to ascertain the whereabouts of the captives.

09/01/2010

Four Maoists arrested in OrissaKeonjhar (Orissa), Sep 1 : Security forces have arrested four Maoists in a joint combing operation in Orissa’s Keonjhar district.

The State police and the paramilitary forces busted a Maoist camp in the forests on Tuesday.

A huge cache of arms, ammunition and Maoist literature was recovered from the spot.

“Four guns, five GPS sets, six walkie-talkies. We also have busted one library from which we have recovered a huge quantity of Maoist literature and other documents,” said Ashish Singh, Superintendent of Police of Keonjhar District.

“Four people have also been arrested. Birsa, alias Raghu, who is an area commander along with his three associates, has been arrested in the operation,” he added.

Police also recovered leaflets with instructions for making landmines and plans for attacks on security forces. (ANI)

August 29, 2010

Maoists have given a call for a 24-hour bandh in Purulia and Jangalmahal area of Bankura and West Midnapore districts on Monday to protest the killing of a top Peoples Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCPA) leader. To enforce the bandh call, Maoists stormed into Urmi station, 20 km from in
Purulia, on Saturday and threatened that Railway property would be targetted if trains functioned on the section during the bandh, station manager Bimal Kumar Ghosh told newsmen.

They also pasted posters on the station walls, he said.

PCPA leader Umakanta Mahato, carrying a reward of Rs one lakh on his head and a prime suspect in the Jnaneswari train mishap case, was killed in an encounter with the joint forces at Mohanpur near Lodhasuli jungle in West Midnapore district on August 27.

2010-08-29

Maoist rebels set ablaze an earthmoving machine of a road construction company at Sonho village in Bihar’s Chapra district on Saturday night.

The Maoists resorted to arson since the engineers and other staff refused to pay two percent levy demanded by them.

Reportedly, the armed rebels numbering around 400 attacked the office of JKM constructions and without harming any of the staff members, who were held as hostages, the Maoists set on fire the vehicles used for road construction.

“They (Maoists) came and made us hostages, then they asked the staff to switch off the lights. They tied the hands of the staff and then seized our mobiles. They asked us not to move and told us that they will not harm us, and they will do what they want to do and then go way,” Vedprakash, supervisor, JKM construction company.

The rebels told the company staff their action was a consequence of non-fulfilment of their demands made in the past.

“They said that we did not fulfil our demands. Further, they asked us to inform our officials that a bill which had been issued for 2 percent levy will have to be paid,” Vedprakash added.

Maoist attacks have become more frequent this year, especially after the government launched a coordinated security offensive involving tens of thousands of police and paramilitary personnel trying to flush out the rebels from their jungle hideouts in different States. (ANI)

Aug 26

On Wednesday, one more teenager in the Valley succumbed to his injuries sustained allegedly during torture in the police custody, taking the toll in the ongoing two-and-a-half-month long unrest to 64. The news of his death triggered fresh protests at many places, forcing the police to use tear smoke canisters to disperse mob.

Sixteen-year-old Umar Bhat, an eyewitnesses alleged, was arrested by the police during a protest at Soura on Friday. “They banged him against the iron shutter of a shop before taking him to the lock-up,” claimed Imtiaz Ahmad, a protester at Aanchar, a locality in the vicinity of Soura.

Umar’s father, Abdul Qayoom Bhat, alleged that his son was in police custody for one night and was released on Saturday evening in an unstable condition. “We took him home, but late in the night he starting vomiting blood. We took him to a hospital. And now we have brought back his dead body,” said Bhat. Umar, he said, was his only son. “My son was tortured in custody. He was administered electric shocks,” he alleged.

A crowd of agitated youth came to Bhat’s house, waiting to take his son to burial. The noise was deafening, drowning the wails of the women coming from inside the house.

Umar, a police statement confirmed, had been arrested along with two others on Friday. “All the three were set free on the following day and handed over to their parents,” the statement said.

The doctors at the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences said Umar had suffered multiple injuries and could not be revived despite their best efforts. “The boy had intestinal and liver injuries,” said Director SKIMS Abdul Hamid Zargar, adding that he was on life support system for two days before they gave up hope of his recovery. Medical Superintendent Amin Tabish said the death was due to kidney and respiratory failure.

The death aggravated the already tense situation around Soura, a locality on the northern extremity of Srinagar. People were out on the streets shouting slogans and pelting stones at the police and CRPF men. The protesters set on fire a police and a private vehicle. There was also an attempt to burn the ancestral house of National Conference founder Shiekh Muhammad Abdullah. The police repeatedly fired in the air to keep the advancing protesters at bay.

Soura has been the scene of strife over the past week. On Thursday, CRPF personnel stationed at a local camp used pellet guns to break up crowds of the stone-throwing youth, injuring three members of a family. Government later withdrew the camp from the area — the first time government did so during the ongoing spell of unrest.

At Frestbal Pampore, 22-year-old Javid Ahmad was hit by a rubber pallet fired by CRPF at a group of protesters on the national highway. The youth suffered injuries in his neck and shoulder and was shifted to Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital here. Following this incident, curfew was re-imposed in different parts of the Valley.

The bandh call by Kisan Sangharsh Samiti (KSS) in the state on Wednesday, received response mainly in districts of Western Uttar Pradesh like Aligarh, Mathura, Agra, Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddha Nagar.

Manvir Singh Teotia, who is heading the KSS, has rushed to New Delhi to meet the Prime Minister. The AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi may be present at the meeting, said sources.

In Etmadpur area of Agra, farmers clashed with the police, pelted stones and set afire a few vehicles. The police fired rubber bullets and lobbed teargas shells to disperse the mob. In some districts, the farmers also blocked road and rail traffic.

Both Congress and the BJP had extended support to the bandh. The KSS is spearheading the farmers’ agitation, demanding higher compensation for their land acquired for the Yamuna Expressway project.

While BJP state president Surya Prasad Shahi, along with party supporters were arrested near the party office in Lucknow, the All India Congress Committee’s General secretary Digvijay Singh, who is also in-charge of UP Congress and the UPCC president Rita Bahuguna Joshi participated in the farmers’ demonstration held in Dadri.

In Agra, farmers blocked the road near Chhaleshar-Kuberpur village on NH-2. By the time the police reached the spot, they had set afire a state roadways bus. “They also tried to set afire a ‘dumper’ vehicle, but the driver managed to escape,” said DIG Dipesh Juneja from Agra.

The farmers, he said brickbatted the police party.

“There was a railway track close to the blockade site and stones were available,” he said. The police chased them and got the blockade cleared. Denying that rubber bullets were used, Juneja said: “We used teargas shells.”
Farmers blocked the road at different points on Aligarh-Palwal road, besides in different areas of Khair Tehsil. Although Aligarh remains epicenter of the farmers’ agitation following the August 14 clash, Wednesday’s protest passed off peacefully. “The farmers also blocked the road near Tappal, where they continue their dharna programme under the banner KSS. Later in the evening, the traffic movement was restored near Tappal,” said a source in Aligarh.

The other points where farmers blocked the road included Sofa Nahar and Jattari villages. In Aligarh town, Congress supporters stopped the Lichchavi Express for a few minutes.

Supporters of Bhartiya Janata Yuwa Morcha, the youth wing of BJP, stopped a passenger train at Mathura Railway Junction. Later, they handed over a memorandum to the authorities in support of the farmers’ demand. The BJP workers also tried to enforce the bandh at the Mathura market. The Congress workers, led by legislator Pradeep Mathur, also made an attempt to block Mathura-Delhi Highway. The administration, however, stopped him from doing so.

Wednesday 25th August, 2010 (ANI)

Admitting that the conflict with Maoists would be long-drawn, Home Minister P. Chidamabaram on Wednesday said that “patience is the key” to resolution of the conflict.

Addressing Director Generals of Police and Inspector Generals of Police of different States at their annual conference here, Chidamabaram said: “We made it clear (to the states in November 2009) that it would take several years before we were able to contain the CPI (Maoists) and roll back their offensive,” said Chidambaram.

“I think the people of India understand – even if the critics do not – that the conflict will be a long drawn one, that patience is the key, that mistakes will be made and the security forces need material and moral support to carry out their tasks,” he added.

He said the government had made an offer for talks if Maoists gave up violence. But there has been no direct and credible response from the Naxals to the government’s offer, he added.

He further said: “Last year, I dwelt at length on the challenge of Left Wing Extremism. It is often forgotten that it is the State Governments that have been, and continue to be, in the forefront of fighting the menace of Left Wing Extremism.

” As far as I know, all State Governments are committed to the two-pronged strategy of development and police action,” he added.

“We obtained the concurrence of the Chief Ministers concerned to a new plan that includes creation of an Unified Command in four States, provision of helicopters for logistics support, establishment or strengthening of 400 police stations, appointment of additional SPOs and implementation of an Integrated Action Plan with emphasis on road connectivity, p
rimary education, primary health care and drinking water in the affected districts,” he said.

He further said the security forces had been able to reassert state control despite setback in Naxal-affected areas such as Gadchiroli in Maharashtra.

“We have augmented training for security forces and also raised the level of support to the states affected with Left-wing extremism,” he said.

“We have also decided to set up one Central Academy for Police Training (CAPT) at Bhopal, two Central Detective Training Schools (CDTS) at Lucknow and Ahmedabad and 20 Counter Insurgency and Anti-Terrorist (CIAT) Schools of which three are operational and 12 more are likely to become operational in the current year,” he added.

“We have sanctioned the raising of an additional 38 Battalions in the CRPF, 29 Battalions in the BSF, 32 Battalions in the SSB, and 14,259 personnel in the CISF,” he said.

He regretted that 424 civilians have been killed this year alone and 192 were killed after they were named as police informers.

“While the loss of every life is a matter of grief and regret, nothing is more painful than the killing of innocent civilians after naming them as ‘police informers’,” he said. (ANI)

NEW DELHI Aug 26 (Reuters) – Thousands of farmers marched to India’s parliament on Thursday to protest against a government takeover of land to build a new highway, underlining a wider problem of land acquisition in the rapidly-growing Asian giant.

The protest follows the death of three farmers in northern Uttar Pradesh state this month, when police fired at protesters demanding more compensation for land taken to build a $2 billion highway connecting the Taj Mahal city of Agra with New Delhi.

Underlining the political sensitivity of land issues, Rahul Gandhi, son of ruling Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi and a potential prime minister, called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday to find a solution to widespread land disputes.

In New Delhi, about 15,000 flag-waving, slogan-shouting farmers squatted at a square near parliament after being stopped by police in riot gear. They were addressed by some opposition leaders. Traffic in central Delhi remained gridlocked for hours.

“Why is the government putting pressure on us to vacate our land? Land is our mother, We will die but not give our land,” said Vinod, a protesting farmer who gave only one name.

These protests are the latest in a string of violence over government efforts to acquire farmland for industry in India, where two-thirds of the 1.2 billion population is dependent on agriculture and where land is a farmer’s only social security.

The series of clashes mirror problems in rival China, where rapid urbanisation has often pitted local government against villagers who demand more control of their land.

STALLED MEGA-PROJECTS

Such protests have stalled plans for power utilities, mines, roads and steel mills in Asia’s third-largest economy where poor infrastructure is a long-standing obstacle to growth and have delayed crucial foreign investment in these sectors.

Farmers’ protests have put on hold 230 tax-free export zones and multi-billion investments by top steelmakers such as ArcelorMittal, South Korea’s POSCO and Tata Steel, according to government figures.

Protests over mining on tribal land in the eastern state of Orissa led this week to the government scrapping plans of UK-based Vedanta Resources Plc to extract bauxite.

But in a sign of how the government could also use land disputes for political gain, Rahul Gandhi held a rally on the tribal land on Thursday to help bolster Congress party support.

Land acquisition in India is carried out by government on the basis of a colonial era 1894 law that gives the state the right to take over land for public purposes with little compensation.

The government wants to amend that law to guarantee market prices for seized land, a potentially vote-winning move for the Congress party which counts rural poor among its key supporters.

It makes provisions for social impact assessment studies prior to large-scale acquisition and costs related to resettlement of displaced residents. Developers would also have to offer shares or debentures in projects as compensation to land owners, among other provisions.

But the new draft law, framed in 2007, has remained on hold because of opposition from some government allies who object to certain provisions in the bill such as blocking land and compensation related litigation from going to civil courts.

The row over land has major political and security implications in India.

The left-of-centre Congress hopes to keep a lid on farmer resentment by minimising the impact of land acquisition. It also wants to undermine the appeal of a growing Maoist insurgency that feeds partly off a wider resentment against industry at the cost of farming and the poor.

“The prime minister has assured us that the land bill will come in the next session of parliament,” Digvijay Singh, a Congress leader who accompanied Gandhi said. (Editing by Alistair Scrutton and Alex Richardson)

PTI, Aug 26

GIRIDIH (JHARKHAND): Maoists fired indiscriminately at a police station in Giridih, blew up a building and set on fire trucks on the Grand Trunk road in the wee hours on Thursday to protest the arrest of their two associates.A group of armed Maoists attacked the Pirtand Police station around 1 am and started firing at random, Superintendent of Police, A V Homker, said.The security forces returned the fire, he said, adding there was no casualty.A couple of blasts were also heard nearby as Maoists destroyed a government building near the police station, he said.Later, the ultras torched some trucks on the G T Road on the Dhanbad-Giridih border.Police said the Maoists were protesting the arrests of two of their hardcore associates, Muktar Ansari and Dasrath Manjhi in Giridih yesterday.In stepped up anti-Naxal operations, police have apprehended several Maoists across the state while about ten ultras have surrendered since July.

2010-08-25
A mob hacked a police constable to death in a Chhattisgarh village Wednesday after he gunned down two civilians in an inebriated condition.

The incident took place in Bakarkatta village in the state’s Maoist insurgency-hit Rajnandgaon district, some 225 km west of Raipur.

‘District Force constable Ashwani Verma shot dead two residents – Dinesh and Bhagwan – over some minor dispute. As the news of the civilians’ killing spread, a large number of people gathered and killed the constable with sharp-edged weapons locally called ‘tangia’,’ sources at the police headquarters here told IANS.

The sources added that Rajnandgaon District Superintendent of Police B.N. Meena left for the site with additional forces to assess the situation.

Reports reaching here said that a large number of people gathered at Bakarkatta and raised slogans against the police for the civilian killings.

‘The situation is very tense there…residents are very upset after the policeman took out his service revolver and killed two people in their early 30s. Additional forces have reached the village and are trying to calm the protesters, who refused to hand over the cop’s body to the police,’ a local policeman told IANS over phone.

August 25

Report by Orissa Diary correspondent; Bhubaneswar: The protest over the death of a young lawyer took an ugly turn on Wednesday after the lawyers went on a rampage and ransacked the office of Cuttack District Collector.

The agitating lawyers burnt tyres on road as mark of protest against the death of lawyer Bishnu Das. They demanded a compensation package of Rs 50 lakhs for the family of the deceased and to provide employment to one member of the deceased family.The lawyers also demanded to continue the judicial probe and take stern action against the cop whose bullet had taken Das’s life.

Similar protests were also held by the lawyers in the capital city Bhubaneswar as well. The lawyers in Bhubaneswar celebrated black day today. They are on a cease-work till Friday too. The lawyers also condemned the misbehaviour done to the High Court judge.

Apart from it, the lawyers’ association at Rourkela, Gajapati, Paralakhemundi and Jeypore , Salipur  has also condemned the incident.

2010-08-24
Bodies of four pro-Maoist People’s Committee against Police Atrocities (PCAPA) supporters were found in West Bengal’s Bankura district Tuesday, police said.

The bullet-riddled bodies were found lying at Melara village in the Barikul area.

‘The needle of suspicion points towards local villagers and the anti-Maoist Public Resistance Committee,’ said a police officer.

The PCAPA members had fled to Jharkhand realising the animosity of the locals towards them. They were killed when they tried to return, the officer said.

16 August

The Indian security forces suffered 282 casualties in counter-insurgency operations so far this year, of which, 212 were in the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected states. Last year, this number was 312 out of total 431 casualties. In 2008 too, more than 57% of total security forces casualties in insurgency-related violence was reported from the LWE states.  With attacks on the central paramilitary forces (CPMF), especially the CRPF, deployed in the troubled Naxal-affected regions getting alarmingly frequent, have the security forces become the target for Naxal attacks in the ‘Red Corridor’ of India? Is the government providing the forces adequate measures to ensure their own safety before they can safeguard the areas they are deployed in? Are the troops in these forward areas physically, mentally and logistically well-equipped to take on counter-insurgency operations in the tough terrains of LWE affected states?

On a fact-finding mission to the Ministry of Home Affairs and the CRPF headquarters, some gaping holes in the CPMF deployment emerged pertaining to the (absence of) adequate logistical support, psychological health and lack of adequate training to troops. While CRPF is keeping a brave front, the situation on ground speaks differently. “We are in those areas only to assist the State Police at places determined by them for Joint Operations,” said DG, CRPF, Vikram Srivastava. However, incidents like Dantewada and Narayanpur where respectively 76 and 26 CRPF men were ambushed and killed by the Naxals and their arms looted, highlight the need for a strategic change for CPMF deployment. So, is the problem with what Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called “India’s biggest internal security challenge,” only in terms of coordination or beyond?

There are 60 CRPF battalions (60,000 troops) deployed in the red corridor as against 10-15 thousand armed Naxalites who have expertise in explosives like IEDs. Despite this ratio, the CRPF is facing many casualties. The problem is multi-dimensional. The CPMF are deployed in the worst affected areas with a deep forest cover. The Naxals know the terrain well and use it for safe hideouts and getaways after guerrilla attacks. Moreover, there aren’t adequate police stations, and the strength of police personnel in the existing ones is abysmal.

The problem becomes even more acute with lack of proper communication channels and roads. To sniff out an IED and mine from an unmetalled road is a difficult task extending an advantage to the Naxals. Interestingly, units deployed in these areas undergo a two month pre-induction training about the general topography of the area and ground situation, jungle warfare, and survival training. However, any training can be successful only if it is backed up with proper communication and logistics. Dispersed deployment of CPMF makes matters worse.

The problem of state-CPMF coordination became public in July when Chhattisgarh DGP, Vishwa Ranjan said, “We can’t teach the CRPF how to walk,” after the Centre called for “relocation and reconfiguration” of CPMF. Special DG (Naxal Operations) CRPF, Vijay Raman retaliated with an allegation of non-cooperation from state police.  The state police and CRPF seem to have buried the hatchet for now, however, on ground, the problem of coordination persists.

Intelligence sharing among the affected states is another problem. Moreover, basic amenities and logistical support is lacking. Helicopters carrying supplies or in emergency evacuation and rescue operations have also been targeted in the past few months. The CPMF troops, living away from their families for long extended tenures, feel that they are being dealt an unfair hand. “Even in the Army, the Infantry corps troops are given one combat posting followed by a hard peace and a peace posting in rotation. We, on the other hand, find ourselves in combat postings for a long time,” said a CRPF official. On the contrary, The Naxals practice non-conventional warfare and their cadres are highly motivated with a strong information network.

The Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for any CPMF during counter-insurgency operations is clearly defined. Under coordinated deployment, before active participation in the operations, CPMFs need to conduct a recce of the area to familiarize themselves with the terrain. A road opening patrol (ROP) sanitizes the area before operations and conducts mine detection. Then, there is logistical intelligence gathering which is networked with other companies and bound-to-bound movement (safe area to safe area) is followed. For the night halt, parameter defence and patrolling is first put in place. In case a communication set is lost, it must be immediately reported and the frequencies changed. However, the recent attacks on CPMFs indicate that these SOPs aren’t being strictly followed. In the Dantewada incident, the CRPF company which was ambushed had initially lost one of their radio set and instead of reporting it, the next day, they went back to look for it and were taken by a surprise attack.

So, is the problem in deployment or is it with training or with both? Perhaps government needs to do more than just amending its offensive policy and lay emphasis on combating psychological and non-conventional warfare by keeping the forces motivated and ready for any surprise attacks.

Aug 06, 2010
Tripura has set an excellent example of combating insurgency without much violation of human rights which can be a model in fighting Left wing extremism in the country, senior Rights activists said here today.

“The experience of Tripura police in counter insurgency operations and its success in containing insurgency without violating the rights of the common people can be a model in the country which can be applied against Left wing extremism”, former director general of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Sankar Sen said.

He said human rights violation is a matter of concern in the country where usually 80,000 cases of human rights violation are being registered each year.

Sen said the rate of custodial deaths is also high as 170 to 180 cases of deaths in police custody and 2,500 incidents of deaths in jails are recorded every year.

Sen, a former IPS officer and a senior fellow of the New Delhi based Institute of Social Sciences (ISS) who came here to address a seminar on ‘Human Rights in Counter Insurgency Operations’ said the institute organised 21 such seminars in the country so far to provide orientation to police.

Aug 05, 2010

SRINAGAR, India (AP) – The death toll from civil unrest in Indian-controlled Kashmir has risen to 49 after three more people died from gunfire by paramilitary forces on demonstrators angry about decades of Indian rule over the Himalayan region.

Kashmir has been rocked by violent protests for nearly two months with demonstrators hurling rocks at paramilitary soldiers and setting government buildings and vehicles ablaze. In response, security forces have fired live rounds and tear gas into large crowds.

Clashes between demonstrators and security forces erupted in several areas Thursday after police and paramilitary soldiers fired warning shots and tear gas, said a police officer on condition of anonymity, as he was not authorized to speak to the media.

3 Aug 2010
CHENNAI: Labour trouble is rearing its head afresh at Hyundai Motor India’s plant at Irrungattukottai near here even as the car maker is getting ready to celebrate production and sales milestone of three million units on Wednesday.

“The company management is adopting delaying tactics. The management has not submitted its arguments to the six-member review committee as to why the 35 workers who were dismissed earlier need not be reinstated despite getting additional time,” Y.S. Chinnaraja, general secretary, Hyundai Motor India Employees Union (HMIEU) told media.

To end the workers strike demanding reinstatement of 67 dismissed employees, the management and HMIEU had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in June in the presence of State Labour Minister T.M. Anbarasan.

As per the MoU, a six-member review committee with two representatives from the union, company management and labour commissioner office was constituted to consider the reinstatement of 35 dismissed employees on a case-by-case basis. The remaining 32 dismissed workers have to seek legal recourse.

“Out of the 35 worker group three workers decided to opt for one time settlement programme. Now there are only 32 workers who have to be reinstated,” Chinnaraja said.

At the July 19 meeting of the review committee, the union and the management were asked to present their arguments on the workers’ reinstatement.

“We submitted our argument at the July 24 meeting whereas the management wanted one month time to submit. When that was declined the management representatives agreed to submit their arguments on July 31,” Chinnaraja said.

According to him, on July 31 the management representatives said they needed more time and were given time till Aug 11.

“We have decided to wait till Aug 11 of this month. If the management does not present their written arguments we may start our agitation. It could be a strike or demonstration outside the labour commissioner’s office. Our earlier strike notice is still valid,” Chinnaraja said.

Attempts by the news agency to reach Hyundai Motor India officials went in vain and an email to company spokesperson remained unanswered.

Production at Hyundai Motor India came to a halt in June after workers went on sit-in strike demanding reinstatement of all the dismissed workers and recognition of their union.

Hyundai Motor has around 1,650 permanent workers, 2,000 causal labourers, 1,500 apprentices, 1,000 trade apprentices and 1,200 technical trainees.

India clamps down on Maoists to woo mining investors
3 Aug 2010
NEW DELHI: India’s growing Maoist violence is worrying investors, forcing authorities to fight back aggressively in hopes of luring up to $7 billion in funds needed to boost coal and iron ore output vital for growth.

Maoist violence killed 426 people in the period from January to July, up nearly three times from a year ago, the South Asia Terrorism Portal shows, spotlighting the danger of mining in India’s mineral-rich eastern and central states and the challenge to the country’s ability to maintain law and order.

The Maoist rebels say they are fighting for the rights of India’s poor and disenfranchised, and find support among millions of tribal and lower caste people who accuse the state and big firms of neglect and exploitation in regions rich in minerals.

“If this issue is resolved, first of all logistics will improve significantly because trying to transport material has become a big problem,” said Prasad Baji, senior vice-president at Edelweiss Securities in Mumbai, the financial capital.

“Mining operations and production will also improve.” Analysts say India must attract $7 billion in funds by 2013 to develop an additional 100 million tonnes of coal and 50 million tonnes of iron ore to meet estimated demand and maintain economic growth of more than 6 percent over the last two years.

India has reserves of 267 billion tonnes of coal and about 25 billion tonnes of iron ore.

But investors can only be won over by a concerted effort to crush the Maoist threat and speed reform, the government’s twin aims in overhauling a law more than 50 years old that regulates the mining industry.

The changes would affect domestic metal and mining firms such as Sesa Goa, Sterlite Industries, Tata Steel and the Steel Authority of India, and global giants Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton

STAKES OF 26 PCT FOR LOCALS

Several federal ministries are weighing the new bill’s proposals for companies to share more than a quarter of their profit or equity with locals, for foreign investor participation in joint ventures and wide federal powers to tackle lawlessness.

The legal overhaul is part of government moves to expand social programmes for the poor, simultaneously pleasing its core supporters among voters, blocking flows of new recruits to the Maoists and balancing modern lifestyles against traditional ways.

Several government panels will debate the bill, revising it, and perhaps watering down the 26 percent profit-sharing figure, before it goes to parliament early next year prior to becoming law, analysts say.

Containing the Maoists, who were spawned by a peasant revolt in eastern India in 1967, is one of the biggest challenges the government faces and there is no guarantee fresh investments in mining will pay off, many analysts and industry figures agree.

“The eradication of Maoists may take at least two years,” said Edelweiss’s Baji, adding that the well-armed groups were entrenched in forested and hilly terrain, enjoyed the support of locals, and had gained strength over many years.

India’s security forces fanned out against the rebels in March in their biggest deployment in post-independence history, but the army is not being used for fear of alienating locals, leaving ill-trained police forces to fight a guerrilla war.

The government also plans to set up a unified command to coordinate the security offensive against the Maoists and spend more than 9.5 billion rupees to build roads and bridges in strife-torn areas.

SLOW PROJECTS

But the payoff for the government could be a while in coming.

“Who will go to these areas to work? There is no development, no law and order,” said S. B. S. Chauhan, an advisor at the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI) in New Delhi, which groups 400 metal and mining firms.

Slow development of new mines could see India’s coal imports swell nearly 47 percent over the next two years and iron ore supplies fall short of big steel capacities on the drawing board.

India imported about 68 million tones of coal in the year to March 2010, on top of output of 531 million tonnes. Analysts expect coal imports to exceed 100 million by March 2012.

Iron ore production of 226 million tonnes in the year to March 2010 sufficed for domestic use and exports, but more high-grade ores are needed for major steel capacity growth, to the tune of 120 million tonnes, by March 2012.

Annual output at India’s largest iron ore miner, NMDC Ltd fell nearly 16 percent in the year to March 2010 after Maoists cut a slurry pipeline in India’s central state of Chhattisgarh, the worst hit by the revolt.

Market sources said pipeline owner Essar Steel had decided not to repair the link between its plants and NMDC’s mines until the surrounding area was made safe.

NMDC chairman Rana Som said the company planned to build its own slurry pipeline traversing safer areas.

A. K. Sarkar, marketing director of Coal India, said strikes cost 80 days during the year to March 2009 in subsidiary Central Coalfields Ltd, several of them attributable to disruption by the Maoists.

“If the law and order situation is improved, coal production can rise by at least 25 percent,” Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal said in June.

Delays suffered by domestic firms Tata Steel and Essar Steel and leading global steelmakers POSCO and Arcelor Mittal show how tough it is to complete projects in the central and eastern regions, analysts say.

Securing mining leases and negotiating farmers’ protests against land buys have caused POSCO and Arcelor Mittal delays of more than two years in building a total of 37 million tonnes of capacity in eastern India.

“People are scared to come here,” said Ashok Surana, president of the Chhattisgarh Mini Steel Plant Association in Raipur, which has 135 members.

“Such big projects are planned, but the local businessmen don’t know if they can invest in building new hotels because of the Maoists.”

Maoist strike hits road, rail services
August 03, 2010
Road and rail services were badly affected in Jharkhand due to a 48-hour strike called by Maoists that began on Tuesday, officials said. The national highways wore a deserted look and no long-route buses plied in many parts of the state. Life came to standstill in many districts like Gumla,
Latehar, Khuti, Chatra, Palamau and Giridih, among others.

As a precautionary measure, railway authorities cancelled five train services and diverted the routes of six others. Trucks were stranded at many places due to the strike and buses didn’t ply either in many areas.

“We stopped the movement of buses as a precautionary step. There are recent examples of Maoists attacking passengers travelling in buses during a strike period,” said Ramdev Yadav, a travel agent at a Ranchi bus stand.

The pro-Maoist Peoples’ Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA) and its militant wing have called for the 48-hour shutdown in five states, including Jharkhand, to mourn the recent killing of their supreme commander Sidhu Soren in a shootout in West Bengal.

India offers Maoist rebels cash for weapons

August 02. 2010

NEW DELHI // In an attempt to tackle growing Maoist violence, two state governments revealed details yesterday of a weapons-buyback and job-traing program that offers rebels substantial money for their surrender and weapons.

For example, the plan provides a one-time payment of 150,000 rupees (Dh11,920), a monthly stipend of 2,000 rupees for three years and additional future payments to rebels who surrender their bullets, guns, missiles and explosives. They also will receive training as special police officers.

Under the plan, 25,000 rupees is offered for a surrendered machine gun, sniper rifle or rocket-propelled grenade. A surface-to-air missile would fetch an extra 20,000 rupees, an AK-series assault rifle 15,000 rupees, a landmine, improvised explosive device or pistol revolver 3,000 rupees and each kilogram of explosive 1,000 rupees, a West Bengal police statement said.

Zulfiquar Hassan, inspector general of Maoist-infested western range of West Bengal, said that the surrendered guerrillas would be placed in a special camp and provided extra security, so they are not targeted by fellow rebels who might want to punish them.

“We can train and employ the surrendered rebels as [short-term] special police officers. We can also arrange permanent government jobs for some if their performance is that satisfying. We shall also give them vocational training which can help them secure jobs in future… we are even open to negotiations with more attractive offers if some rebels really want to surrender, but do not find our package interesting.”

Manoj Verma, police chief of Maoist-infested West Midnapur district in West Bengal, said that as the Maoists are losing their support in many villages it was the “right time” to introduce the scheme.

Mr Verma said the goverment has received feelers from at least 10 Maoist cadres who are willing to surrender since a broad outline of the plan was revealed last week. “We believe some more rebels will be ready to return to normal life after they know the details of our scheme for surrender on offer,” he said.

“Many Maoists cadres are hiding in forests and remote villages. To distribute our leaflets which are carrying the details of our scheme in different languages, we may use helicopter.”

Neyaz Ahmed, police chief of Maoist-troubled neighbouring Jharkhand state, said yesterday that two Maoists, impressed with the government-offered rehabilitation package, had surrendered.

Rajdeo Yadav, a Maoist commander who surrendered in Jharkhand, told police that he left his group because he did not agree with the Maoists’ way of solving problems of the society, Mr Ahmed said.

“Another girl cadre said she left her group because she was disenchanted with the Maoists’ violent lifestyle and many other young cadres too were planning to surrender,” said Mr Ahmed, referring to 18-year-old Lalmuni who ran away from a Maoist women’s armed guerilla squad in Jharkhand last week.

“Many Maoists cadres are disillusioned with their movement. They want to leave the path of violence and want to join their democratic mainstream,” he said.

Communist Party of India [Maoist] West Bengal State Committee member Akash, who uses one name, said yesterday in a statement that the government would not be able to “buy-out oppressed and protesting masses” and would not be able to solve the crisis in the region.

“The government is trying to lure away our comrades with money. But our party workers are driven by a high level of dedication. They will all reject such surrender and rehab offers outright. No true Maoist can fall prey to such mean temptations,” said Akash.

Landmines recovered in Orissa, 6 Maoists held
Bhubaneswar, Aug 3: Two unexploded landmines were found in Sundergarh district of Orissa.

According to the police, the landmines were found fitted under two separate culverts during a combing operation by the police on Tuesday, Aug 3.

Six Maoist guerrillas were also arrested and they would be produced in a local court on Tuesday, Aug 3, Superintendent of Police Diptesh Patnaik said.

The rebels were held from Kalta area of the Maoist-infested Bonai sub-division, about 450 km from Bhubaneswar.

“Maoists planted landmines under two separate culverts to trigger blasts, thankfully we recovered the landmines,” Diptesh Patnaik said.

“They were involved in several crimes, including the murder of trade union leader Thomas Munda in Jan 2010,” Patnaik added.

AFP August 01, 2010
ANOTHER protester has been killed in revolt-hit Indian Kashmir, bringing to six the number of young men shot dead by security forces in two days as fresh violence shakes the region.

The latest casualties marked the deadliest 48 hours in the Muslim-majority Himalayan territory since June 11, when the turmoil first erupted after a 17-year-old student was killed by a police tear-gas shell.

So far, Indian security forces have been accused of killing 23 Kashmiri civilians – many of them in their teens or 20s – in less than two months.

The latest casualty, a 30-year-old man, was killed yesterday when security forces opened fire at rock-throwing protesters in northern Baramulla town, a police officer said, asking not to be named.

Earlier, a young man was killed in the neighbouring Naidkhai village when “security forces opened fire as a group of protesters tried to attack a police camp”, he said.

The deaths brought to six the number of people killed in clashes with security forces since Friday in the northern district of Baramulla, known as a hotbed of separatist sentiment.

Several other demonstrators were injured, one of them seriously, in yesterday’s firing incident in Naidkhai village, the officer told AFP.

The latest round of police firing happened in northern Kashmir as authorities struggled to subdue protesters defying a strict curfew that was imposed on all major towns in the Kashmir valley yesterday.

Each death has sparked a new cycle of violence despite appeals for calm from state Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram.

In Sopore, protesters set fire to a railway station, smashing windows and breaking furniture, and hurling stones, another police officer said.

Security forces fired shots to disperse the protesters, injuring four people, the officer said, asking not to be named.

In neighbouring Kreeri town, demonstrators torched a counter-insurgency police camp and threw stones at a security patrol, prompting security forces to fire in self-defence, injuring two women and one man, he said.

“The condition of one injured woman is critical,” the officer told AFP.

In Pampore, demonstrators set ablaze two Indian Air Force vehicles but police fired tear gas and warning shots and were able to rescue the occupants, police said.

Srinagar, Indian Kashmir’s summer capital, which was also under curfew, looked deserted as troops armed with rifles and batons patrolled the streets.

In some parts of Srinagar, protesters and riot police clashed, police said.

Police and paramilitary forces were also deployed in strength in other large towns in a bid to keep a lid on demonstrations, the spokesman said.

The two-decade-old insurgency against New Delhi’s rule in Kashmir has claimed tens of thousands of lives, though the recent unrest is the worst for two years.

Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan each hold Kashmir in part but claim it in full. Separatist politicians and Islamic militants reject Indian rule in Kashmir and want to merge with Muslim-majority Pakistan or carve out an independent state.

PTI

At least 500 Naxal attacks have been reported in nine states across the country in the last three months, with the highest number reported from Chhattisgarh, government said on Wednesday.

A highest of 140 instances were reported in Chhattisgarh, 111 in Jharkhand, 88 in West Bengal, 78 in Bihar and 43 in Orissa, according to data given in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha by Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Maken.

Twenty incidents including attacks on police and civilians by the Maoists were reported in Maharashtra, followed by 17 in Andhra Pradesh, two in Madhya Pradesh and one in Uttar Pradesh, it said.

According to the data, 348 people, including security force personnel were killed in such attacks. A highest of 194 casualties were reported in Chhattisgarh, followed by 66 in West Bengal and 23 in Orissa.

In reply to another question, Mr. Maken said a total of 378 Naxalites were arrested in the last two months.

“The CPI (Maoist) and other Left Wing Extremist groups source their weapons primarily by looting the same from security forces. In areas of Maoists influence, they also loot weapons from arms license holders. They also manufacture country-made weapons in their arms manufacturing units,” he said.

“Central Government grants, under security related expenditure scheme, ex-gratia payment of Rs. 3 lakh to family of security personnel killed due to Naxal attacks. In addition, ex-gratia compensation of Rs. 15 lakh is paid to the next of kin of personnel of Central paramilitary forces killed in action,” Mr. Maken added.