Signalfire

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.

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’.

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)

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)

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.

2010-08-24
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.

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.

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.

In a setback to Maoists in the Lalgarh area of West Bengal, a top commander and five guerrillas, including a woman, were killed in a six-hour gunbattle in the dense forests of Goaltore in West Midnapore.

In Jharkhand, securitymen went in search of Maoist leader Kundan Pahan in Khunti but returned empty-handed. Officials said there was information that he was present there. Khunti is the operational area of Pahan who is believed to have plotted the beheading of police officer Francis Induwar last October.

In West Midnapore, SP Manoj Verma said Sidhu Soren, area commander of the Goaltore Maoist squad and chief of the Sidhu-Kanhu Gana Militia, was killed in the forest encounter. CRPF commandos and state police overran the Maoist hideout in Koima and Metala. They recovered 16 weapons, all looted from security forces including some from the Silda camp of the Eastern Frontier Rifles.

“We recovered an INSAS rifle with EFR, 2nd Battalion imprinted on it. This implies it was looted from the Silda camp,” Verma said.

Ashutosh Tiwari of the CRPF CoBRA unit was also killed in the encounter that lasted from 2 am to 8 am.

Ill-trained CRPF was expected to fix a problem ill-trained police forces couldn’t deal with. The price of that misplaced optimism has been paid with blood.

Five decades ago, a French Special Forces officer, ruminating on the ruin of his nation’s once-powerful empire, set out to understand just why its armed forces had lost in a battle to adversaries armed with little other than determination. Unusually for a participant-chronicler of defeat, Roger Trinquier blamed neither politicians nor the inscrutable workings of history.

The problem, Trinquier argued, was that France had persisted “in studying a type of warfare that no longer exists and that we shall never fight again, while we pay only passing attention to the war we lost in Indochina and the one we are about to lose in Algeria. The result of this shortcoming is that the army is not prepared to confront an adversary employing arms and methods the army itself ignores. It has, therefore, no chance of winning.” “Our military machine,” he wryly concluded, “reminds one of a pile-driver attempting to crush a fly.”

Earlier this month, New Delhi laid out new proposals to address the growing Maoist insurgency that is devastating large swatches of India: a unified inter-State command, assisted by a retired Army Major-General. For all the hype, it is unclear just what the new structure is meant to achieve. No retired soldier, no matter how illustrious, has any experience of the ongoing counter-Maoist operations — or even firsthand knowledge of the forces he will be advising. More important, the immediate problem is not that of insurgents escaping pursuit across State lines: it is the growing mass of their forces, and the lethality of attacks.

Behind New Delhi’s anodyne response lies a bitter truth the government will not publicly admit: the principal instrument of India’s counter-Maoist campaign will not and cannot succeed.

A force in ruins

Back in 2003, a Group of Ministers assigned the Central Reserve Police Force frontline responsibility for counter-insurgency operations, in support of police across the country. Its recommendations, part of the seminal Report of the Group of Ministers on Reforming the National Security System, were widely seen as a well-intentioned effort to end the use of the Army and the Border Security Force in counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism duties.

In 1999, when the expert group on whose basis the Report was issued conducted its work, the CRPF had 1,67,367 personnel. That number went up to 2,60,873 in 2007 — and is believed to have increased to over 2,80,000 now.

Key to the problem is that the CRPF has nowhere to train its recruits. The organisation has six training centres, each of which was designed to process between 150 and 200 personnel at a time through nine-month basic courses. Today those centres cannot even handle recruitment made to redress wastage — men who retire, for example, or who have to be removed for discipline. New battalions are being trained at improvised facilities lacking in basic infrastructure like classrooms, quality firing ranges and combat-simulation facilities — and by officers who will eventually lead them on the field, not professional instructors.

Worse, the CRPF has a crippling shortage of officers at the cutting-edge Assistant Commandant level — the officers responsible for handling forces the size of a company, or about 125 men. Induction has not kept pace with the expansion of the force. So, most battalions have to make do with just half of their sanctioned strength of Assistant Commandants.

Many of the best officers, moreover, are siphoned off by the Special Protection Group and the National Security Guard early in their careers. Few, thus, develop a personal rapport with the men they return to command. Satyawan Yadav, who led the ill-fated 62 Battalion patrol which was wiped out in Dantewada in April this year, had spent 10 years at the SPG. Internal investigators found that Yadav had defied orders to conduct a long-rage patrol through forests, choosing instead to lie about the whereabouts of his force to his commanders. His transition from the air-conditioned environment of the Prime Minister’s home to a field camp in Bastar had evidently been difficult.

Poor leadership has meant the CRPF has little institutional ability to learn from its mistakes. Despite repeated warnings from the Intelligence Bureau, 62 Battalion failed to secure its headquarters in Rampur against an attack by the Lashkar-e-Taiba in December 2007. Earlier this year, several personnel were held on charges of selling ammunition to organised crime groups in Uttar Pradesh. Later, Battalion commander Prabhranjan Kumar was relieved of his duties and is now facing internal proceedings related to inappropriate personal behaviour.

No in-house intelligence

It doesn’t end there: the CRPF does not have an in-house intelligence organisation. It recruits on a national basis, meaning it has few personnel familiar with the language, culture and terrain of the areas in which it operates. It does not even have a higher-command school dedicated to counter-insurgency tactics. Bluntly, everything that could conceivably be wrong is wrong.

For most of its history, the CRPF served as a resource provider, sending out company-sized forces to assist the police across the country. Few commanders had frontline combat roles until the CRPF was drawn into the Punjab insurgency. Bar a brief commitment in Jammu and Kashmir, the force had no independent counter-insurgency commitments till five years ago — when it was handed a role it was neither prepared nor equipped for.

“We can’t teach the CRPF how to walk,” Chhattisgarh Director-General of Police Vishwa Ranjan said of the series of errors in fieldcraft that led to the massacre of 27 personnel in a fire-engagement last month. His words may have been harsh — but their accuracy cannot be disputed.

“Policing a country of over 1.1 billion people,” Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram said in June, “is not an easy task.” He pointed out that in many of the States worst-hit by Maoist violence, “there are police stations where there are no more than eight men; and even these eight or less men do not hold any weapons for fear of the weapons being looted.” He called on the States to “enhance the capacity of training institutes to at least double the present capacity, and to recruit at least double the number of policemen and women being recruited at present.”

Ever since Mr. Chidambaram took office as Home Minister, India has seen a concerted effort to enhance police staffing. In December 2008, the National Crime Records Bureau reported, India had 1.13 million police personnel — about 128 for every 1,00,000 people, just over half the United Nations-recommended norm for peaceful societies facing no major challenges. The government now claims that the public-police ratio has risen to 1,00,000:161.78. The figures have aroused some scepticism, implying that 3,84,000 personnel have been hired in just 18 months — not counting the replacement of those who retired or were otherwise lost.

Leaving aside the statistical dispute, though, it is clear many Maoist-hit States are not the beneficiaries of force expansion. Bihar still has just 85,545 posts, of which 23,889 are vacant. That means there are 74.29 officers for every 1,00,000 population. Orissa still has just 135.8, and West Bengal just 100. Elsewhere, the increases are more marked, but still well short of international norms. Jharkhand, which had just 136 police personnel per 1,00,000 population five years ago, now has 206.98, according to the Union Home Ministry. Chhattisgarh’s police-population ratio too has risen from 128 to 226.3: 1,00,000.

Moreover, force expansion is not solving the problem it was intended for. Nagaland, which now has a staggering 1,677.3 police personnel for every 1,00,000 population, Jammu and Kashmir 742.3, and Manipur 669.6 — some of the highest population to force ratios in India — but none has succeeded in relieving the military of counter-insurgency responsibilities. Mizoram, which has no insurgency, has 1,268.6 police personnel per 1,00,000 population, suggesting that the problem in essence is serving employment-generation imperatives.

Even if all States were to expand their forces to these levels, it is far from clear if the facilities and instructors exist to make the recruitment meaningful. The benefits of facilities like Chhattisgarh’s school of jungle warfare at Kanker are evident. From January to June this year, the Chhattisgarh police claimed to have killed 37 Maoist insurgents, compared to just 10 by the CRPF, eight of those in joint operations. Notably, the police lost 29 men in combat, as against 117 fatalities suffered by the CRPF. Few governments, though, have followed its lead. In his speech, Mr. Chidambaram announced that nine counter-insurgency and anti-terrorism schools would be up and running this year, each equipped to train 1,000 personnel a year. He made clear, though, that these schools would in no way meet the needs of India’s burgeoning forces.

“We hope,” Union Home Secretary G.K. Pillai said in 2009, as the CRPF began to surge deep into Chhattisgarh, “that literally within 30 days of the security forces moving in and dominating the area, we should be able to restore civil administration there.” New Delhi hoped that an ill-trained CRPF would help fix a problem ill-trained police forces weren’t able to deal with. The price of that Panglossian optimism has been paid with blood. Both New Delhi and the States need to get down to the hard work needed to build credible counter-insurgency forces — and, meanwhile, consider strategies that are consistent with their capabilities.

9 Jul

NEW DELHI: A prominent US think tank, Startfor, has said that Naxalites have moved beyond militant tactics and their effort now was to cause social unrest through political tactics.

“The Naxalite organisation is a sophisticated one that relies not only on militant tactics but also on social unrest and political tactics to increase its power. Naxalites have formed sympathetic student groups in universities, and human-rights groups in New Delhi and other regional capitals are advocating for the local tribal cause in rural eastern India,” the think tank said in its report on the Naxal challenge facing India.

According to Stratfor, there should be meaningful intervention from the government at this juncture as the chances of containing it are high. “Despite threats and indications from Naxalites that they will attack urban targets throughout India, the group has yet to demonstrate the intent or ability to strike outside of the Red Corridor.”

At the same time, the report said the law enforcing agencies should take steps to thwart any attempt on the part of Naxals to develop tradecraft in urban terrorism.

“The group’s leaders and bombmakers could develop such a capability, and it will be important to watch for any indication that cadres are developing the tradecraft for urban terrorism. Even if they do not expand their target set and conduct more “terrorist-type” attacks, the Naxalite challenge to the state could materialize in other ways,” the report said.

Stratfor said the Naxalites are honing the capability to construct and deploy IEDs, conduct armed raids and maintain an extensive, agile and responsive intelligence network.

“The April 6 raid on the soldiers in Dantewada and the May 17 bus attack were both actions that took advantage of opportunities to target and kill police forces. The April 6 raid was the culmination of two or three days of stalking the CRPF unit in the forest and waiting for the right time to strike.

The May 17 bus attack was organised in a matter of hours, with spotters noticing the police on the bus and alerting other cadres who planted the device further down the road. This flexibility and autonomy among its various component parts, along with the group’s local support and indigenous knowledge of its turf, make the Naxalites a dangerous adversary against the slower moving, more deliberate and more predictable CRPF,” the report said.

(AFP)

RAIPUR, India — India rejected Tuesday the idea of using the military in direct operations against Maoist rebels, despite increasing pressure on the government to beef up its counter-insurgency strategy.

“There is no need to use the army in the anti-Maoist operations,” Home Secretary G.K. Pillai told reporters during a visit to the central state of Chhattisgarh — a stronghold of the left-wing guerrillas.

Pillai acknowledged that the Chhattisgarh state government had called for the involvement of the armed forces, but said the idea had been rejected at a recent meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security in New Delhi.

A series of recent rebel strikes have highlighted the government’s struggle to find an effective strategy against the insurgency, leading to calls for the army and air force to be drafted in.

Pillai reiterated that paramilitary and state police forces were capable of leading the fight, although he added that the air force might be used to provide logistical support.

Chhattisgarh has witnessed three major rebel attacks on security personnel in as many months, including an ambush last week that killed 26 police officers.

The Maoists massacred 76 paramilitary personnel in a similar assault in April, and last month a Maoist landmine attack on a bus killed 24 civilians and 11 police.

The government launched a major offensive last year to tackle the left-wing rebels, but Pillai warned that it could take “between five and seven years” to properly quell the insurgency.

Maoist rebels have fought for decades throughout east and central India against state and government rule, drawing support from landless tribal groups and farmers left behind by the country’s economic development.

The current debate of ‘people or profits’, with regards to the Maoist uprising, prevents big conglomerates from investing in the mineral rich states of India. The Maoists are now in 200 districts across 12 Indian states, stretching from Nepal to the northern district of Tamil Nadu. It is a challenge to India’s internal security and their growing political influence in the region will certainly have an impact on the economy. More than four decade of the left wing extremism in India has claimed approximately 20,000 lives and its reach is expanding drastically. The Maoists seek to overthrow the democratically institutionalized government through armed resurrection. They are expanding their sphere of influence by running a parallel administration with an organized military command structure in nearly 44 districts in Orissa, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh and few districts in Andhra Pradesh.

Maoist presence in the mineral-resources rich regions scuttles India’s plan to capitalize on the resources. The world biggest steel maker, Posco, yet to start their US$32 billion project in Orissa, delayed it due to agitation and protests over land. Government sources projected that recently sprung out left-wing extremism in regions rich in iron ore, coal and bauxite has stalled an upcoming project worth US$80 billion, which would have doubled the national steel input. This is despite the government assurance of additional forces, intelligence and other adequate support for the state governments. ArcelorMittal and NMDC Ltd. are reluctant to expand their projects in the resource belt due to the ongoing strife between Maoist and the Central Security Forces. Business and Investment experts believe that “the high level of risk associated with doing business in Naxal-infested regions will deter investment.” If the situation continues, it will hamper India’s growth rate in the future.

Even as investors are concerned, the major challenge is emerging from the public attitude mooted by eminent scholars on the ‘people or profit’ debate. Opposition to the TATA plant in Singur, the allegation on Posco for forceful land acquisitions and many other issues against corporate establishment in Maoist influenced areas, created enough negative agitation against the corporate establishment. Even in the Maoist-Free Zones, corporations and investors are reluctant to expand their projects due to a backlash from the local population. Arousing public sentiment can be wishfully converted into a struggle against the establishment in the poor rural regions, say leading risk advisors. Adequate safety and security to physical infrastructure merely deters the agitation group. In order to avert the risks to gain profits, big conglomerates are working on a multi-level strategy to pre-empt anti-development threats, emerging particularly from poor rural India.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) plays a vital role in winning the hearts and minds of the people. Laying roads, building schools, hospitals and women empowerment are activities frequently organized by the corporations to fulfill their social responsibility role. On the political ground, corporations lack the will to fight political issues lest it hurt the good will of the company. Therefore, corporations outsource the job of analyzing socio-politico and cultural activity of a region to ‘corporate security and risk consulting firms’. Leading risk consultants in India, Hill and Association (Delhi), Mitkat Risk Advisory Services (Mumbai), Mahindra Special Services Group (Mumbai) and Orkash service (Delhi) Ltd etc. are some examples.

These firms are specifically tasked to assist corporations and investors in calculating risks and creating risk awareness in organizations by training the senior management in risk assessment programs. However, risk consulting firms’ primary focus rests on crucial projects encompassing information security management to high-end physical security in vulnerable areas and instituting a security setup wherever necessary. The risk consultant helps the client in grass-root-investigation on matters ranging from money laundering investigation, asset tracing, tracking and locating individuals/absconding employees, fraud risk assessment and information forensic etc.

The recent terrorist attack on the Mumbai Taj Hotels and the uprising of people’s resistance in the resource rich belt, backed by CPI-(Maoist), traumatized the corporate world with a sense of insecurity. Risk advisors primarily working on risk consultation, now shoulder more responsibility in dealing with insurgency and terrorism to caution the respective client to avoid running into a troublesome region. Corporations and investors believe that risk advisors services can mitigate possible Singur type agitations, which plunge the region into human disaster and hamper long-term investment, like it happened in West Bengal.

In conclusion, risk management firms play a vital role for investors and corporations in an emerging security threats environment. The risk advisor by conducting early investigation in an area foresees possible risks and threats to the investor in the region. This creates a conducive environment for the corporation/investor to expand the project without disturbing the state apparatus. At the same time, the role of private actors investigating Maoist and people resistance activities is sometimes exposed to vulnerable situations, like abduction, harassment and a threat to life etc. Although, so far no such incident has been reported, risk advisory firms should be cautious while operating in such a dangerous environment. Nevertheless, corporate security and risk management firms are committed to playing a crucial role in the emerging security environment.

22 Jun 2010

NEW DELHI: As the government continues to weigh options of fighting naxalism more effectively, Army has offered to send Colonel-rank officers to the Home Ministry on deputation for advise in anti-Maoist operations.

The army has sent a proposal in this regard to the Defence Ministry, army sources said.

“We have offered to depute Colonel-rank officers with experience of commanding battalions in counter-insurgency operations to provide advise in anti-naxal operations,” a source said.

The number of officers to be sent to the Home Ministry has not yet been decided.

The government has to decide how and where it would want to use these officers, they said.

Experience of these officers in battling terrorism and insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir and the North East will help the states plan anti-naxal operations more effectively, the sources said.

Some naxal-affected states have been requesting Army for services of senior officers with experience in counter-insurgency operations, they said.

The move comes at a time when the government is weighing various options of dealing with naxalism more effectively.

The Home Ministry is looking for an enhanced role of armed forces in anti-naxal operations. The Defence Ministry is hesistant to get involved in it although it is not averse to providing some kind of logistical support.

The Home Ministry has sought Army’s help in defusing IEDs and demining the naxal-infested territory.

It has also asked the IAF to provide helicopters for quick deployment and evacuation of paramilitary forces during anti-Naxal operations that may be carried out in inaccessible areas.

The proposal is currently before the Cabinet Committee on Security, which is yet to take a final view.

IAF has suggested to the Defence Ministry that its 15 helicopters deployed in the UN missions in African countries may be called to meet the shortage of choppers.

Josy Joseph, TNN, Jun 17, 2010, 05.41am IST
NEW DELHI: The Indian Army is not a combatant in the anti-Naxalite offensive as yet, but it is readying nearly 5 divisions for the purpose — in the imminent likelihood of being pressed into the fight. The Army’s anti-Naxal training module focuses on acquiring intimate knowledge of the topography and the tactics used by Maoists. All this would require the sodiers to unlearn many of the lessons imparted to them for conventional warfare, and use tactics different from those in vogue in J&K and northeast.

The Army, which has already identified four senior officers for appointment as security advisors to the worst Naxal-affected states, plans to keep the specially-trained divisions in “ready-to-deploy” condition. For that, it is pulling out troop components from artillery, armoured and other arms to put them through the new training module. Besides, the infantry units returning from counter-insurgency deployments in Kashmir and northeast will be put through the new training schedule once they have had enough rest and recuperation, sources said.

As a prelude to the eventual deployment, the Army has already stepped up its intelligence gathering capabilities in the Naxal belt. It traditionally never had any intelligence networks in the tribal areas of central India. To fill the gap, Central Command soldiers who understand tribal languages, have been deploying for intelligence gathering and analysis.

Authoritative sources said the four brigadiers, with extensive experience in counter-insurgency operations in northeast and Kashmir, have been identified for deputation to the Union home ministry. These officers will be appointed as security advisors to the unified commands, comprising paramilitary and state polices, that are being set up in Orissa, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh.

June 10
A crucial meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security, chaired by the Prime Minister, will decide on an updated anti-Naxal policy today. It is expected to deliberate upon whether the Army should be brought in.

While this will be a political call, the Army has reservations and is wary of getting embroiled in Naxal areas. But it is willing to help through training and in advisory roles.

Sources say the Army has offered to advice and train personnel of state and Central Police Organisations in larger numbers. It has suggested that young Assistant Commandants of Central Police Organisations can be attached to counter-insurgency battalions for six-month stints to raise a Greyhound-type specialized force in each state.

It has also suggested that Brigadier-level officers can be assigned as advisers in Naxal-affected states of the Unified Command  – Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Maharashtra are the states where such postings can be done, the sources say.

It has offered to deploy more helicopters and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).

Sources say the Army is reluctant to get involved because it is already overstretched. If it has to deploy in Naxal areas, it would be at the cost of lowering guard on the Pakistan and China borders.

Already, the ratio of field-to-peace tenures of combat battalions has been upset because of heavy counter-insurgency operations. And although the situation in Jammu and Kashmir has improved substantially, it is still not conducive to thinning out the Army from there, the sources say.

Also, it is not possible for the Army to operate without the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958. All the state governments would have to agree to impose the Act.

This year has seen some of the most lethal Maoist attacks ever, and the Central Government, on the back foot each time, has promised an effective anti-Naxal plan. The Opposition has slammed it for what it calls an “irresponsible policy in dealing with Naxalism.” Bringing in the Armed Forces to tackle the menace is a demand that has been repeatedly made.

Naxal attacks doubled in 2009, Rlys lost Rs 500cr: Mamata

NEW DELHI: Incidents of Naxal attacks on railway property nearly doubled in 2009 and the Indian Railways lost over Rs 500 crore due to disruptions by Maoists, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee informed the Rajya Sabha today.

“Railways has become a target of Naxals,” she said replying to supplementaries during Question Hour.

“We have lost Rs 500 crore because of Naxal bandhs and obstructions,” she said adding incidents of attacks by Naxals nearly doubled to 58 in 2009 from 30 in the previous year. 56 incidents were reported in 2007, she said.

Banerjee said it was impossible to man every inch of the 65,000 km rail route. “Whatever we can do in our jurisdiction, we do,” she said.

“We appeal to all the state governments to take some precaution so that we can run trains,” she said emphasising that law and order was a state subject and railways could do very little with the limited Railway Protection Force it has.

During the period of naxal attacks, bandhs and rail roko, running of trains is badly affected. Attacks on trains happen mainly in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa and Chhattisgarh.

“There has been adverse impact on operations, freight loading and passenger traffic on a localised basis during bandh calls and other threats in vulnerable areas,” she said.

Zonal railways affected by naxal violence are Dhanbad, Mughalsarai, Danapur (East Central Railway), Asansol, Malda (Eastern Railway), Ranchi, Adra, Chakradharpur and Kharagpur (South Eastern Railway), Waltair, Sambalpur (East Coast Railway) and Guntakal, Secunderabad and Guntur (South Central Railway).

“Measures are taken for safety and security of trains like running of Rajdhani and other passenger trains,” she said. “However, there is no decision regarding capping the speed of all the Rajdhani and other super-fast trains.”

Former Customs officer arrested for training Naxals in Kerala

IIT directors meet in Kanpur to plug JEE hol…Rig to leak: BCCI throws the kitchen sink at…Rig to leak: BCCI throws the kitchen sink at…Rig to leak: BCCI throws the kitchen sink at…IIT directors meet in Kanpur to plug JEE hol…Rig to leak: BCCI throws the kitchen sink at…IIT directors meet in Kanpur to plug JEE hol…

Surat Surat police, which is probing the spread of Naxal influence in the state, has arrested Nagpur-based retired Customs Officer — Vishwanath Vardharajan Iyer (60) — for suspected Naxal links. According to the police, Iyer is among those who provided guerilla warfare training to a few from Gujarat in the jungles in Kerala, sometime in 2000.

The police are probing Iyer’s links with the Philippines Communist Party, which is believed to have conducted a guerilla warfare training camp in Kerala, in which 30 from India, including two from Gujarat — Bharat Puwar and Sulat Puwar — had reportedly participated.

The police said Iyer is one of the central committee members of CPI ML — Janshakti which is believed to have Naxal-Maoist links. His arrest follows that of two tribal activists from Dangs — Avinash Kulkarni and Bharat Puwar — who are now lodged in the Surat district jail.

A bachelor, residing with his sister, Iyer took voluntary retirement from the Customs Department in 1988 from Nagpur where he was last posted. He has a good service track record.

The police said Iyer belongs to Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu, and the family is known in the region for its strong classical music traditions.

Iyer’s father is a noted classical musician, while his uncle is known to have trained yesteryear film actor Vyjantimala in kathak, the police said. Iyer, according to the police, made his mark in the Customs Department by arresting big smugglers and recovering huge quantity of goods from them.

So far, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the Surat police to probe Naxal links has arrested nine people and Iyer’s arrest follows their questioning.

The police said literature related to CPI ML — Janshakti, in

addition to incriminating CDs and DVDs have also been recovered.

Surat Range I G A K Singh said, “We have found some more leads.”

The police said Iyer regularly visited Gujarat and was on good terms with Kulkarni. Singh said the Gujarat Police is in touch with their Kerala counterparts for more details.

Pre-monsoon maoist moves on forces radar
NEW DELHI: Even as the Naxalites have launched a three-month-long tactical counter-offensive across the affected states ahead of monsoon, the intelligence agencies have begun encashing on the wider intelligence generated by increased movement of the Maoist cadres during this period to bust their hideouts and find their operational commanders.

The tactical counter-offensive is part of the Naxalites’ annual strategy to step up attacks on security forces and infrastructure such as railway tracks, communication and transmission towers to showcase their military might before the onset of monsoon forces them to retreat and put operations on hold.

“This year too, the tactical counter-offensive campaign started on April 15 and will continue over the next three months,” Chhattisgarh director general of police Vishwa Ranjan told ET. He said Naxalites would intensify attacks on public property to underline their nuisance value.

However, he added, the counter-Naxal forces were prepared to take on the challenge thrown up by the Maoists. The forces plan to use the increased movement of Maoists during the offensive to generate pinpointed intelligence on their anticipated hideouts. This would be immediately followed up by laying ambushes along the pre-judged routes and halts of the Naxalites.

“Our operations are going on across various Naxal-hit districts, be it Bijapur, Narayanpur, Dantewada & Kanker. We will try to correctly anticipate the movements of Naxalites and intercept them along the route,” said Mr Vishwa Ranjan.
Meanwhile, the CPI(Maoist) sub-committee on mass organisations has asked cadres to put pressure on the government to roll back its “offensive” against the Maoists.

Intelligence sources reveal militarisation of the CPI(Maoist)’s armed wing is continuing unabated. As compared to the guerrilla warfare, the mainstay of anti-Naxal operations thus far that required only 15-20 cadres for an attack, the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA), which will soon become the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), is now a more organised and militarised force comprising companies on the lines of the Army. Each company has 60-70 cadres and is allotted four LMGs each, besides automatic weapons and sniper rifles.

These companies are trained on military lines and well-versed in the field manoeuvres adopted by conventional armies. Attacks are usually launched by two companies (around 140 Maoists), who converge on the attack site often at a short notice.

This is part of the mobile warfare that has now become the backbone of Naxalite operations. Under mobile warfare, the stress is not on trying to hold bases, but on hitting at distant places. The movements of the cadres are flexible, usually around 400 people collect at a target, hit it and then disperse.

Incidentally, the next stage of the militarisation would be positional warfare when Naxalites will concentrate on holding positions and confronting the state forces like a conventional army.

Key to India’s failure in combating Maoist insurgency is an ahistorical, one-size-fits-all security doctrine.

Eric Hobsbawm wrote: “There is nothing in the purely military pages of Mao, Nguyen Giap, Che Guevara or other manuals of guerrilla warfare which a traditional guerrillero or band leader would regard as other than simple common sense.”

Last week, after the massacre of 76 police personnel in Dantewada, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram urged Indians to “remain calm, keep your nerve, and do not stray from the carefully chosen course that we have adopted since November 2009.”

The last of those recommendations may prove profoundly misguided. Few of the strategists charged with executing the Minister’s ambitious counter-Maoist offensive appear to have grasped its doctrinal and tactical demands. Premised on the belief that counter-insurgency campaigns must be population-centric — in other words, dominate territories and thus deny insurgents contact with the population — the strategic foundation of India’s war against Maoist insurgents is flawed. The bottom line is this: Indian forces are losing. Last year, 312 security personnel were killed to 294 Maoists. This year, too, the figures are grim.

For centuries, insurgents have known that a superior force can be defeated. Napoleon Bonaparte believed that his 1808 occupation of Spain would be a “military promenade.” Instead, France found itself bogged down by a protracted guerrilla struggle that lasted six years and compelled to commit three-fifths of its imperial army. Irish insurgents who fought the British in 1848 were taught to “decompose the science and system of war.” “The force of England,” advised the radical James Lalor, “is entrenched and fortified. You must draw it out of position; break up its mass; break its trained line of march and manoeuvre; its equal step and serried array.”

Much of this would have been familiar to peasant rebels and bandits in India. Back in 1813, Kallua Gujjar led a successful series of raids targeting moneylenders, travellers and police posts in the Saharanpur-Dehra Dun belt. His 1,000-strong irregular force was, on one occasion, able to loot a group of some 200 police personnel. Bhil insurgents staged a series of revolt between 1820 and 1860 — driven, among other things, by the large-scale expropriation of Adivasi land by the state and growing exploitation by moneylenders. Despite the use of irregular formations like James Outram’s Bhil Corps and a policy of pacification that involved pushing the Adivasis to become settled farmers, the Bhil raids continued for decades.

Major-General Akbar Khan, who commanded the Pakistani irregular offensive directed at Srinagar in 1947, described the tactical mindset of such irregular warriors in his memoirs: “One Mahsud tribesman aptly described to me their tactics as being like that of the hawk. The hawk flies high in the sky, out of danger; he flies round and round until he sees his prey and then he swoops down on it for one mighty strike and when he has got his prey, he does not wait around, he flies off at once to some far off quiet place where he can enjoy what he has got.”

Ossified doctrine

Key to India’s failure in combating Maoist insurgency is an ahistorical, one-size-fits-all security doctrine. In essence, state responses have consisted of pumping in forces for conventional, ground-holding operations in the hope of displacing guerrilla forces; maintaining high force levels over sustained periods of time; and, using this military presence to push forward with developmental and political initiatives to deprive insurgents of their political legitimacy.

Indian counter-insurgency tactics and strategy, Vijendra Singh Jafa notes, “have remained fundamentally conservative and traditional, influenced substantially by accounts of British experiences.” Drawing on the British campaign against the Malayan Communist Party, Indian strategists believe that successful counter-insurgency campaigns must focus on winning popular support. New work, like that of historian Karl Hack, has shown that the back of the Malayan insurgency was, in fact, broken long before Britain set about winning hearts and minds. Little of this revisionist literature, though, has been studied seriously in Indian military academies.

Despite plenty of evidence that population-centric strategies do not work —witness the durability of insurgencies in the northeast and Jammu and Kashmir — the doctrine has never been reappraised.

The former Punjab Director-General of Police, K.P.S. Gill’s signal contribution was demonstrating that alternatives to population-centric counter-insurgency could succeed. Instead of engaging in protracted, large-force operations, Mr. Gill focussed on offensive operations targeting the leadership and cadre of Khalistan terrorists. In effect, unconventional war-fighting methods were used to defeat unconventional war-fighting methods. Evidence that such tactics work has piled up. In Jammu and Kashmir, the Special Operations Group succeeded in decimating the leadership of the Hizb ul-Mujahideen. Andhra Pradesh’s Greyhounds destroyed a once-powerful Maoist insurgency. Tripura defeated an intractable tribal insurgency.

In a thoughtful 1988 paper for the United States Air Force Airpower Research Institute, Dennis Drew noted that counter-insurgency operations called for an upturning of military thinking. Military professionals, he wrote, believe “that the basic military objective in war is to conduct operations that lead to the destruction of the enemy’s centre of gravity.” India’s policy of pumping company-sized formations into the Maoist heartland, and attempting to dominate the territory around them, is one manifestation of this thinking. The problem is successful insurgents have no fixed centre of gravity — no bases that conventional forces may overwhelm.

Population-centred counter-insurgency has received renewed legitimacy from the apparent success of the U.S. troop surge in Iraq, which was marketed as having subdued a growing insurgency. But, as scholar and soldier Gian Gentile has pointed out, the notion that the reduction of insurgent violence in Iraq was “primarily the result of American military action is hubris run amok.” In fact, Gentile argued, a “combination of brutal attacks by Shia militia in conjunction with the actions of the Iraqi Shia government and the continuing persecution by the al-Qaeda against the Sunni community convinced the insurgents that they could no longer counter all these forces and it was to their advantage to cut a deal with the Americans.”

Capacity crisis

For many in the Indian intelligentsia, the defeat of insurgents is an inevitability: part, as it were, of the manifest destiny of the state. Last week, Shekhar Gupta, editor of Indian Express, offered a ringing endorsement of this received wisdom, arguing that insurgencies “follow a pattern pretty much like a bell curve,” “The graph of violence,” he argued, “rises in the initial period, producing more and more casualties on both sides. But at some stage the rebels come to the realisation that the state and its people are too strong and resolute to be ever defeated, no matter what the score, in a particular day’s battle in a long war. That is the point of inflexion when rebels see reason. There is no reason why the Maoist insurgency will not follow that same pattern.”

But will it? Back in 1954, when India first committed troops to battling Naga insurgents, just one State was hit by insurgency. Now, 265 of 625 districts are affected by one form or the other of chronic conflict — a figure that excludes areas with unacceptably high levels of organised crime, as well as cities periodically targeted by jihadist violence. It is far from clear if the resources exist to address the problem. Italy has 559 police officers for every 1,00,000 citizens; Bihar has 60, Orissa 97, Chhattisgarh 128 and Jharkhand 136. Even the Army, despite its apparently enormous size, will be stretched if it is committed to internal security duties. The United States has one soldier for every 186 citizens; India has one for 866.

Worse, it is far from clear if the Indian state has the capacity needed for rapid, transformative projects. The U.S., figures compiled by the Institute for Conflict Management’s Ajai Sahni show, has 889 federal employees, and 6,314 state and local employees for every 1,00,000 citizens. India’s Union government has 295 — and if one excludes railway employees, 171. Chhattisgarh has 1,067 government employees per 1,00,000 population; Bihar, a pathetic 472.

Even if forces are found to saturate the ground, experience shows, development will not necessarily follow. In both Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast, state spending has yielded only limited results. Funds have often been siphoned off by local contractors and politicians — and, worse, preyed on by insurgents. In effect, the injection of cash into troubled regions has subsidised insurgency.

Learning from its own success stories, India needs to fight insurgencies in smarter, leaner ways. Like Andhra Pradesh, States must invest in training facilities that meet their particular needs; expand intelligence capabilities; and use technology effectively. Instead of focussing on simply expanding the size of Central forces, the Union government must understand the need for them to be properly trained and equipped. Soldiers without skills have only one fate: defeat.

In time, it is true, Indian forces may succeed in wearing down the Maoist insurgency, albeit at a horrible cost of lives — but there are reasons to worry that they may not. India’s strategic strengths are manifest. But as the work of military scholar Ivan Arreguin-Toft teaches us, the weak do sometimes win. Instead of despatching ever-greater numbers of men to support those already flailing in the face of insurgent fire, a dispassionate review of both doctrine and tactics is needed.

An explosives container weighing 45 kg was found beneath a metalled road near Ranchi 10 days ago by a team of the Jharkhand police and the Central Reserve Police Force.

Citing this as an example of how far Maoist influence has spread in terms of carrying out sabotage, IG (operations) DK Pandey said investigations showed the container was slipped in when the road was being laid. “The contractor is being prosecuted,” he said.

On June 13 last year, Maoists triggered landmine and bomb blasts in a Bokaro suburb in Jharkhand, killing 10 policemen and injuring several.  This came three days after 10 policemen were killed in a landmine blast in West Singbhum district.

One aspect common to both incidents was that explosives were planted under the roads when they were being laid. In Bokaro, the road was a smooth metalled one on which hundreds of cars plied every day.

“There have been many cases where we have found that explosives were planted when the roads were being laid,” Pandey said, adding that the police had prosecuted a couple of contractors for “negligence” and “connivance”.

Subodh Prasad, a Jharkhand cadre Indian Police Service officer who has served in districts disturbed by Maoist activities, said the ultras commanded the allegiance of a vast majority of the rural population.

“It’s difficult to identify people who work under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme by day and turn Maoists by night,” he said. “No road in the Maoist heartland is safe.”

Maoist sources told HT that in the reserved Saranda forest, spread over three districts of Jharkhand and Orissa, the red brigade has planted several thousand pressure bombs and landmines beneath unmetalled and metalled roads. Three massacres have taken place in this forest in eight years, killing 70 security personnel.

Gag order on internal security

The government has decided that the home ministry alone will speak on internal security matters. Cabinet secretary KM Chandrashekhar made this clear in a letter to all ministers and secretaries sent on Saturday. This comes after the army and air force chiefs expressed views on the use of armed forces in anti-Naxal operations, following last week’s massacre of 76 troops in Chhattisgarh. Some ministers aired opinions on related issues too.  HTC

New Delhi, Apr 11 (PTI) A security officer has recommended creation of counter insurgency grid of anti-naxal forces across the Moist-affected states under a unified command of a single empowered post of a director general in central paramilitary forces.

Maintaining that a “pan India” approach should be adopted along with sustained development of the affected areas, he said “piecemeal and sporadic campaigns will surely fail miserably”.

“It is true that law and order is a state subject, but the Centre cannot wash its hand of, especially in areas where there is no law and order left and the affected states are asking for help,” said Col J K Achuthan, who has been actively engaged in counter insurgency (CI) operations in various parts.

Rebels’ resorted to road blockade in Koraput
Bhubaneswar ( Orissa) : Normal life in Orissa’s Koraput district bordering Andhra Pradesh and Malkangiri bordering Chhattisgarh, on Saturday badly hit with outlawed CPI (Maoists) blocked roads at several places in southern region protesting Operation Green Hunt, police said.

The rebels have blocked roads by felling trees resulting zero communication on several major routes, police said.

Road communication between Narayanpatna and Laxmipur town in Koraput district was disrupted in at least one place due to the road block, sources said.
The rebels also pasted posters on trees and other places protesting the anti-Maoist operation in the region, they said.

Timber trader shot dead in Orissa’s Baripada
Bhubaneswar ( Orissa) : After spreading mayhem in Koraput and Malkangiri districts, the outlawed Maoists have shot dead a timber merchant in Orissa’s Mayurbhanj district and issued a stern warning against middlemen (dalals), police said on Monday.

SP Dayal Gangwar said a group of armed rebels barged into the house of 50-year-old Goutam Hapoi, a timber merchant, at Kathasirisi in Suliapada area and took him away.

He said that Hapoi, a resident of West Midnapore district of neighbouring West Bengal was gunned down near his house.

Hapoi ran a saw mill and was involved in a timber business for the last five years.

It is yet to be ascertained whether the victim had earlier received threat from the rebels.

Police said that before escaping from the spot the ultras left behind some posters in Belgani and Oriya which read that ‘dalals’ (middlemen) would be punished in a similar way.

Security personnel have been dispatched to the area.

INDIAN security services began rounding up Maoist rebels across the country’s Red Belt yesterday as the government faced heavy criticism a day after 76 policemen were slaughtered in the bloodiest attack yet by the country’s Naxalite forces.

Home Minister P. Chidambaram flew to Chhattisgarh state yesterday – the scene of Tuesday’s bloody ambush by rebels on police and paramilitary forces – where he said India was facing an internal war and called for calm in the face of national outrage at the killings.

“If this is a war, it is a war thrust on the state by those who do not have a legitimate right to carry weapons,” Mr Chidambaram said.

“To our offer of talks, they (Maoist rebels) have replied with a savage and brutal act of violence. Nevertheless we must remain calm and hold our nerve. This is a long, drawn-out struggle that will take two to three years, probably more.”

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spent Tuesday night in emergency meetings with top ministers, defence officials and national security advisers to consider a response to the attack, which has sparked renewed criticism of the government’s Naxalite strategy.

The central government has ruled out calls to send in army reinforcements to help demoralised Central Reserve Police and paramilitary forces, which form the frontlines of the government’s battle against the rebels.

But Mr Chidambaram yesterday refused to rule out calling in the Indian Air Force, although he would not comment on reports that unmanned aerial drones were to be deployed across the dense forests and mountains of central and eastern India, where the Maoist threat is concentrated.

A dozen Maoists have been arrested since the attack, in which a battalion from the Central Reserve Police Force walked into a deadly trap at Dantewada after a false tip-off. But the leaders of the Maoist force – variously estimated at between 10,000 and 20,000 – remained elusive.

Dantewada, in Chhattisgarh’s remote south Bastar region, is part of the Maoists’ proclaimed “liberated zone” where the civil administration has been forced out by a rebel parallel government.

The rebels, called Naxalites after Naxalbari village in West Bengal, where a peasant uprising began in 1967, have waged a four-decade war in support of economic rights for hundreds of millions of poor farmers, labourers and tribal people whom they say are being kicked off the land to make way for multinational mining companies.

The Maoist insurgency has since spread to 20 of India’s 29 states.

The government has intensified its offensive against the rebels in recent months, launching Operation Green Hunt across six states of the so-called Red Belt, which runs from Uttar Pradesh in the north, across central India and down to the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

But Tuesday’s attack, in which a rebel force of up to 800 lured police into a deadly trap, detonated landmines and cut off all exits before opening fire, shows a growing sophistication within Naxalite ranks as well as a formidable armoury.

Chief ministers from all Naxal-affected states are expected to meet national security chiefs and defence heads in coming days to review strategies for eliminating the rebels.

Former Indian Intelligence Bureau chief Ajit Doval also criticised the Chhattisgarh operation’s clear lack of “ground capacity”.