Chhattisgarh:
Rajnandgaon: Blocking Maoist Recovery
Deepak
Kumar Nayak
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management
On October
4, 2017, a group of Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist)
cadres killed two civilians on the suspicion of being
‘Police informers’ in the Aundhi area of Rajnandgaon District.
The victims, identified as Chandan Kirsam (51) and Vinod
Salame (18), were first assaulted and then strangulated
by the Maoists.
On September
4, 2017, CPI-Maoist cadres killed a civilian, identified
as Bajirao Nareti, near Pendodi village in Rajnandgaon
District. “The Maoists rounded up four residents of Pendodi
village on Monday night [September 4] and took them outside
the village. They trashed the villagers and killed one
of them,” a Rajnandgaon District Police statement issued
on September 5, disclosed. An unnamed Police officer claimed
that the deceased Nareti was involved in supplying food
grains to the Maoists.
On September
1, 2017, one civilian was killed by CPI-Maoist cadres
near Baghdongari village under Aundhi Police Station limits
in Rajnandgaon District. On September 2, the Police stated,
“Twenty-eight-year-old Pavan Dehari, a resident of Rajkatta
village of Rajnandgoan, was shot dead by the Maoists near
Baghdongari village under Aundhi Police Station limits
at around midnight on Friday [September 1]. Pavan Dehari
was an innocent villager. He was working as a carpenter
in Rajkatta village.” The Police asserted that the killing
was an “act of frustration by the Maoists”.
According
to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism
Portal (SATP), at least four civilians have been killed
in Rajnandgaon District in Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-linked
violence in the current year, 2017, so far (data till
October 8, 2017). Since the formation of the CPI-Maoist
on September 21, 2004, the District has recorded at least
46 such fatalities and is ranked 5th among
a total of 15
Districts from where civilian fatalities
have been registered in the State. The other Districts
of the State which exceed Rajnandgaon in terms of civilian
fatalities are – Dantewada (337 fatalities), Bijapur (173
fatalities), Sukma (58 fatalities) and Kanker (57 fatalities
ranking 4th). Chhattisgarh State has recorded
a total of 761
civilian fatalities since the formation
of the CPI-Maoist.
Moreover,
Rajnandgaon District shares the 17th rank,
along with Purulia in West Bengal, among the 114
Districts across India, from where
civilian fatalities were registered through September
21, 2004 – 2017.
The continued
insecurity among the civilian population is primarily
due to the Maoists retaining a measure of dominance in
their face-off with the Security Forces (SFs) in the District.
Since September 21, 2004, the Rajnandgaon District has
recorded 41 SF fatalities, as compared to just eight fatalities
among the Maoists, establishing a staggering kill ratio
of 1:5.12 in favour of the Maoists. Significantly, on
July 12, 2009, in a major attack, the worst ever by the
Maoists targeting SFs in Rajnandgaon, the Maoists killed
30 Police personnel, including a Superintendent of Police
(SP), in simultaneous ambushes and landmine attacks at
Madanwada, Khoregaon and Sitagaon under the Manpur Police
Station limits. Even if this incident is excluded, the
kill ratio favours the Maoists at 1:1.25. Notably, out
of 12 Districts in Chhattisgarh from where fatalities
among both these categories – SFs and Maoists – have been
recorded, the kill ratio in seven, including Rajnandgaon,
is in favour of the Maoists. Similarly, out of 69 Districts
across 14 States of India, from where fatalities in both
these categories have been recorded, the kill ratio in
25 Districts is in favour of the Maoists.
Fatalities
in Rajnandgaon District: 2004*- 2017**
Year
|
Civilians
|
SFs
|
LWEs
|
Total
|
2004
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2005
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
2006
|
2
|
2
|
0
|
4
|
2007
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
2008
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
2009
|
14
|
31
|
0
|
45
|
2010
|
8
|
0
|
0
|
8
|
2011
|
6
|
1
|
0
|
7
|
2012
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
2013
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
2014
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
2015
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
2016
|
1
|
2
|
1
|
4
|
2017
|
4
|
3
|
5
|
12
|
Total
|
46
|
41
|
8
|
95
|
Source:
SATP, **Data till October 8, 2017
*
Formation of CPI-Maoist on September 21, 2004.
|
Rajnandgaon
District, carved out from the erstwhile Durg District,
on January 26, 1973, covers a geographical area of 8,222
square kilometres, out of which 978.87 square kilometres
is under forest cover. The District shares its borders
with Kabirdham, earlier known as Kawardha in the north
and Durg in the east, both in Chhattisgarh; Gadchiroli
and Bhandara Districts in Maharashtra, and Balaghat in
Madhya Pradesh, in the west; and Bastar in Chhattisgarh,
in the south. All these Districts, with the exception
of Kabirdham, are Left Wing Extremism-affected. More worryingly,
the Bastar District is ranked 11th among the
worst affected Districts, out of the 139 Maoist-affected
Districts in the country, in terms of fatalities recorded
in such violence since 2004. Rajnandgaon was also listed
among the 35 worst Naxal (LWE)-affected Districts
identified by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA)
in 2010.
It is not
surprising, consequently, that the Maoists, who are
facing severe reveres
across the country, including in Chhattisgarh, struggling
to recover the few places where they retain some
hold. Rajnandgaon fits into this plan
and, therefore, falls under the new
‘guerrilla zone’ – the Maharashtra,
Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh Confluence zone’ (MMCCZ)
– carved out by the Maoists for their operations. Apart
from forested pockets in northern Rajnandgaon and parts
of Kabirdham and Mungeli Districts in Chhattisgarh, the
MMCCZ covers forested pockets in Balaghat District in
Madhya Pradesh and Gondia District in Maharashtra. According
to reports MMCCZ functions under the Dandakaranya Special
Zonal Committee (DKSZC), the most powerful entity within
the CPI-Maoist operational setup.
To further
their plan, the Maoists are focusing on issues specific
to the area in an effort to win over villagers and consolidate
their presence. As the village population is predominantly
tribal in the new ‘guerrilla zone’ and reportedly feels
‘left behind by development’, the Maoists have included
issues of land and differential pricing of bamboo and
tendu patta (leaves of the tendu tree). An unnamed
villager in Malaida of Rajnandgaon District thus noted,
“We live on what we can make from bamboo and tendu patta,
but we never get a fair price. Contractors take their
cut, and people from other States take away the produce.”
Indeed, according to the “District Development and Diversity
Index Report for India and Major States,” a joint survey
conducted by the US-India Policy Institute (USIPI)
and the Centre for Research and Debates in Development
Policy (CRDDP), New Delhi, among the 599 Districts
across India covered by the survey, Rajnandgaon ranked
414th towards the bottom. The other Districts
which fall under MMCCZ and were covered under the survey
are – Balaghat (ranked 439th), Gondia (ranked
259th), and Kabirdham/Kawardha (ranked 466th).
The report of the survey, which took composite development
— measured in terms of economic development and the indices
of health, education and material well-being – into consideration,
was released on January 29, 2015. Ironically, Rajnandgaon
District is the home (Assembly) constituency of three-time
Chief Minister Raman Singh.
Importantly,
on June 13, 2017, acknowledging the developments in the
new MMCCZ, Chhattisgarh's Special Director General of
Police (DGP, anti-Naxal operations), D. M. Awasthi
observed, “Yes, it is true that they are attempting to
create a new zone called MMC. We are well aware of it
and have been working against it. The first intimation
we got about this development was in April 2016… So far,
they have had little success. There have been some close
calls with their leadership in the area, and exchanges
of fire as well, but no casualties. A new zone is indeed
a matter of concern, and requires us to be especially
vigilant.”
Significantly,
on June 21, 2017, a high-level meeting to curb the Maoist
problem in the ‘MMC Zone’ was held in Rajnandgaon District,
attended by the Senior Security Adviser in the Union Ministry
of Home Affairs (UMHA), K. Vijay Kumar; D. M. Awasthi;
Madhya Pradesh’s Additional Director General of Police
(ADGP, anti-Naxal operations), Sanjiv Kumar Singh;
Maharashtra’s ADGP, anti-Naxal operations, D. Kanakratnam;
Chhattisgarh’s Inspector General of Police (IGP, Durg
Range), Dipanshu Kabra; and SP's of Rajnandgaon (Chhattisgarh),
Gondia (Maharashtra) and Balaghat (Madhya Pradesh). In
the meeting, strategies were discussed to thwart Naxal
activities on the bordering area through joint efforts
of Police from the three neighbouring States. Strengthening
of the information network to prepare a special action
plan for the exchange of operational intelligence between
the affected States was also discussed.
The overwhelming
focus is presently on the security
situation in the Bastar Division,
but it is equally important to block Maoist efforts to
regroup in other areas of vulnerability, including Rajnandgaon
and its neighbouring Districts, across State lines. Some
successes have been achieved by the SFs in Rajnandgaon
in the current year. The better kill ratio in favour of
the SFs in the current year – 1: 1.66 – is a positive
sign. More significantly, SFs have managed to eliminate
five Maoists in the current year, the highest number over
the last 12 years.
Simultaneously,
it is vital to boost development in Rajnandgaon. On February
21, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Shyama
Prasad Mukherji Rurban (rural-urban) Mission from Kurubhat
village in the Dongargarh Block (administrative
unit) in Rajnandgaon District, with an aim to draw an
investment of over INR 50 billion over three years to
"transform rural areas to economically, socially
and physically sustainable spaces" in Chhattisgarh's
Rajnandgaon, Dhamtari, Kawardha and Bastar Districts.
Also, between May 8 and June 8, 2017, Chhattisgarh Police,
the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and Madhya Pradesh’s
Hawk Team (a specialised unit for countering terrorist
and Naxal operations), set up a joint temporary
camp at Gatapar village in Abhanpur tehsil (revenue
unit) in Raipur District to conduct operations and facilitate
the building of a 13-kilometres road from Gatapar village
in Raipur to Malaida village in Rajnandgaon. An ITBP officer
guarding the under-construction road, according to a report
dated June 15, 2017, noted, “If the Maoists are successful
in setting up base here, it will be difficult to uproot
them. This can potentially become another Bastar. So it
is our job to dominate the area, go to villagers and talk
to them, and provide security to the roads.”
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