Maharashtra:
Gadchiroli: Struggle for Survival
Deepak
Kumar Nayak
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management
On December
6, 2017, seven cadres of the Communist Party of India-Maoist
(CPI-Maoist)
were killed in an encounter with the Security Forces (SFs)
near Kalled village, 15 kilometres north of Zinganoor
Police Station in the Sironcha tehsil (revenue
unit) of Gadchiroli District. Bodies of the seven uniformed
Maoists, along with two Self-Loading Rifle (SLR) rifles,
two .303 rifles, two 12 bore guns and one country-made
pistol, were recovered from the encounter spot. The deceased
CPI-Maoist cadres were identified as Aheri area ‘dalam
(armed squad) commander’ Ashok Pendam aka Aaytu,
(34), resident of Lingampalli in Gadchiroli, who carried
a head money of INR 800,000; Sironcha ‘area assistant
commander’; Sunita Kodape and ‘assistant commander’ Chandu
from the Aheri area, both of whom carried rewards of INR
600,000 each; Sarita Kavande from Bijapur, Chhattisgarh,
Shaila Pokur from Bhamragarh area in Gadchiroli, and Akhila
Kulmethe from Aheri, each with a reward of INR 200,000
on their heads. The identity of one remaining cadre is
yet to be ascertained.
On November
26, 2017, a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) trooper,
identified as Manjunath Shivaligappa, was killed and another
two were injured during an encounter with CPI-Maoist cadres
in Gadchiroli District.
On November
24, 2017, a Policeman, Suresh Gawde, was killed and a
Policewoman, Sonal Khevale, was injured, when CPI-Maoist
cadres triggered an improvised explosive device (IED)
blast in a bustling market place in Gadchiroli District.
On the same day, CPI-Maoist cadres hacked to death a villager,
Suresh Tofa, suspecting him to be a ‘Police informer’,
in Sodegaon under the Dhanora Tehsil
in Gadchiroli District.
On November
21, 2017, a former CPI-Maoist supporter Sunil Pawar was
shot dead at a market place at Jhadapapda, which is located
around eight kilometres from Pendhri in the Dhanora Tehsil of
Gadchiroli District. Two others, Sadaram Thakur and Ravindra
Kusram, sustained injuries as Maoists in civil attire
opened fire at them.
According
to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism
Portal (SATP), at least 23 fatalities (six civilians,
three SF personnel and 14 Maoists) have so far been recorded
in Gadchiroli, in Maoist-linked violence, since the beginning
of 2017 (data till December 10). During the corresponding
period of 2016, the same number of fatalities was recorded
23 (nine civilians, two SF personnel and 12 Maoists).
Total fatalities through 2016 were 26 (12 civilians, two
SF personnel and 12 Maoists).
Fatalities
in Gadchiroli District: 2004*- 2017**
Year
|
Civilians
|
SFs
|
LWEs
|
Total
|
2004
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2005
|
2
|
15
|
4
|
21
|
2006
|
13
|
3
|
34
|
50
|
2007
|
7
|
2
|
8
|
17
|
2008
|
2
|
5
|
7
|
14
|
2009
|
10
|
53
|
22
|
85
|
2010
|
21
|
15
|
3
|
39
|
2011
|
34
|
9
|
24
|
67
|
2012
|
18
|
14
|
5
|
37
|
2013
|
9
|
7
|
28
|
44
|
2014
|
9
|
11
|
10
|
30
|
2015
|
11
|
4
|
2
|
17
|
2016
|
12
|
2
|
12
|
26
|
2017
|
6
|
3
|
14
|
23
|
Total
|
154
|
143
|
173
|
470
|
Source:
SATP, **Data till December 10, 2017
*
Formation of CPI-Maoist on September 21, 2004.
|
With the
success achieved in the December 6, 2017, incident, SFs
have further consolidated the position they had begun
to secure on the ground during 2016. The kill ratio was
in favour of the Maoists in 2014 and 2015, at 1.1:1 and
2:1, respectively. Strongly reversing the trend, SFs secured
a ratio of 1:6 in 2016. The kill ratio stands in favour
of SFs in the current year at 1:4.66.
Moreover,
according to SATP data, at least 10 Maoists were arrested
in Gadchiroli in 2017 (data till December 10). During
the corresponding period in 2016, only one Maoist had
been arrested, and no further arrest was made in the remaining
period of 2016. Most recently, on June 17, 2017, SFs arrested
Pawan aka Soma Phoda Weladi (35), a member of the
Maoists’ Gariabandh ‘divisional committee’, carrying a
reward of INR 1.6 million, in Gadchiroli District. A press
release by the Superintendent of Police (SP), Gadchiroli,
disclosed that Pawan had been involved in several acts
of violence in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Odisha over
the past 20 years and also worked as a bodyguard for senior
Naxal [Left-Wing Extremist (LWE)] leaders.
Mounting
SFs pressure has led to the surrender of eight Maoists
in 2017 (data till December 10) in addition to 34 such
surrenders reported in the corresponding period of 2016
(no further surrender was reported in the remaining period
of 2016). Significantly, on December 7, 2017, two Maoists,
identified as Kamla Gavle and Nagesh Madavi, each of them
carrying a reward of INR 200,000, surrendered before the
Gadchiroli Police. In the interim, terming the Aatmasamarpan
(surrender) scheme
a successful weapon against the Naxalites, the
Maharashtra Government extended the scheme for another
two years, till August 28, 2019. The Naxal surrender
scheme was introduced in August 29, 2005, with the aim
of rehabilitating and absorbing the ultras into the mainstream
of society. According to a report dated October 6, 2015,
the State Government disclosed that, during the 10 years
for which the program had been in place, at least 502
Maoists had given up arms and had been rehabilitated.
Of those 502, at least 482 were from the Gadchiroli District
alone.
In combination,
these factors have impacted positively on the civilian
security scenario in the District. The number of civilian
fatalities, which stands at six in the current year, is
the lowest recorded during the corresponding period of
each of the previous years, since 2008, when there were
two fatalities in this category (there were no more fatalities
during the remaining period of 2008). Moreover, fatalities
in this category after registering a minimal increase
in 2014 and 2015, from nine to 11, declined considerably
in the current year.
Located
in the north-eastern part of Maharashtra, Gadchiroli is
the epicenter of Maoist violence in the State. The District
serves as a transit between Telangana [it shares borders
with two Districts: Adilabad and Karimnagar] and Chhattisgarh
[it shares borders with four District: Bijapur, Kanker,
Narayanpur and Rajnandgaon], in regions that are strategically
crucial for the Maoists. Gadchiroli has a 78.40 per cent
forest cover, i.e. 11,694 square kilometres, out of a
total area of 14,412 square kilometres, making the task
of locating and sanitizing Maoists hideouts quite difficult.
Inevitably, Gadchiroli is among the 35 worst Naxal-affected
Districts identified by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs
(UMHA) in 2010 across the country. The same information
has been shared by the Government thereafter on several
occasions. Most recently, on July 18, 2017, the Government
informed the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Indian Parliament)
that there are 35
most affected Districts across seven states
(Gadchiroli included).
Gadchiroli
also remains an extremely backward District. 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),
among the 599 Districts across India covered by the survey,
Gadchiroli ranked 429th towards the bottom.
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.
According
to Maharashtra Economic Survey 2016-17, Gadchiroli with
INR 6,710 per capita Gross Value Added (GVA, at constant
prices), had the lowest per capita district GVA in the
State, as against Mumbai, with the highest at INR 296,208,
and a State average of INR 43,347.
Meanwhile,
according to a May 20, 2017, report, Waman Mandavi (19),
a member of the Chetna Natya Mandali (CNM), the
CPI-Maoist ‘cultural wing’, who was arrested from neighboring
Gondia District (Maharashtra) in the last week of April
2017, revealed that the old North Gadchiroli-Gondia-Balaghat-Rajnandgaon
(NGGBR) zone/division had been converted into the Gadchiroli-Rajnandgaon-Balaghat
(GRB) zone/division. This is an effort to widen Maoist
presence in the whole of Gadchiroli, and not just its
Northern part, as in the past, and is expected to provide
an opportunity to ‘utilize’ the facilities available in
strong Maoist ‘base areas’ of the bordering Districts
of Chhattisgarh, such as Kanker, Narayanpur and Bijapur,
falling under the Bastar Division of Chhattisgarh, the
epicenter
of Maoist violence. The Maoists have
started surveying and recruiting in the GRB zone/division.
The GRB zone/division is currently headed by Darbha ‘divisional
commander’ Surendra aka Madkami Soma, who has been
promoted to a rank equivalent to a ‘Dandakaranya Special
Zonal Committee Member (DSZC). Soma is supported by Dama
aka Rajesh (50) from Marum in Gadchiroli; and Santosh.
The Maharashtra
Government has taken several measures to deal with the
problem of backwardness prevalent in the region. Most
recently, according to a December 4, 2017, report, the
State Government has tied up with the United Nations (UN)
to launch the Human Development Mission (HDM) in Gadchiroli
District.
In a media
interview on December 20, 2016, Abhinav Deshmukh, Superintendent
of Police (SP), Gadchiroli, had asserted that the District
could be Naxal free in five years if other departments
worked as necessary: “We have controlled Naxalism considerably.
It’s time for other departments to put in their efforts
to fill the development backlog. Then only we can curb
Naxalism.”
On the
Security Front, according to an April 19, 2017, report,
for better surveillance of Maoist activities, Gadchiroli
District will have Closed-Circuit Television (CCTVs) in
around 25 villages. These cameras would make the images
of these remote places — from Kamlapur in the Aheri division
to Hedri in Etapalli division — available at the local
Police Station as well as at the District Police control
room at Gadchiroli, more than 100 kilometers away. In
the first phase, south Gadchiroli is being covered, with
distant villages like Challewada, Kodselgudam, Tarigudam
and some others already connected.
Further,
according to a September 6, 2017, report, to boost anti-Naxal
operations, the Maharashtra Government has decided to
buy a new helicopter which will be used for operations
in Gadchiroli and Chandrapur Districts, as well as an
air ambulance. Around 12,000 Police personnel are deployed
in Gadchiroli, including Commando-60 (C-60, the special
anti-Maoist Force of the Maharashtra Police) units, CRPF
and the Sate Reserve Police Force (SRPF).
SF successes
in Gadchiroli have been dramatic, but greater efforts
are required to further reinforce the gains. Any lowering
of the guard would augment spaces for the Maoists to recover
lost ground.
|