South Asia Terrorism Portal

INDIA

Bihar: 'Axis' of Violence
Indrajit Sharma
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
 

On November 22, 2020, three persons, including a ‘zonal commander’ of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), identified as Santosh Yadav aka Alok (30), and two civilians – Birendra and Jairam – were killed at Mahuari village under Barachatti Police Station limits in Gaya District. The Maoists opened fire at a team of Security Forces (SFs) comprising Central Reserve Police Force (CPRF), Police personnel of Jharkhand and Bihar, who were out on a joint anti-Naxal [Left Wing Extremism, LWE] operation in the village. In the ensued gun-battle, Santosh Yadav, carrying a reward of INR one million on his head was killed by the SFs while the Maoists shot dead the two civilians and injured three others when they opened fire at a civilian crowd. Also, four troopers of the CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) Battalion of the CRPF were injured in the incident. SFs recovered an INSAS and an AK 47 rifle from the encounter spot.

On September 1, 2020, Maoist killed a local priest, identified as Neeraj Jha of Shringirishi Dham under Kajra Police Station limits in Lakhisarai District. The Maoists had abducted Neeraj on August 23 and demanded INR 10 million ransom from his family. The Maoists later killed him and dumped his body in a forested area in the District.

On August 28, 2020, Maoists shot dead two civilians, identified as Mahindra Yadav and Ram Dayal Rajak, after branding them as ‘Police informers’, at Harni Khajura village under Magra Police Station limits in Gaya District. One villager was also injured in the attack.

According to data collated by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), at least seven civilians have been killed in LWE-linked violence in the ‘Axis’ region of Bihar covering Aurangabad, Gaya, Nawada, Jamui, Lakhisarai and Munger Districts, in the current year (data till November 29, 2020). The region thus accounted for 70 per cent of total civilian fatalities recorded in Bihar in 2020, thus far (total 10 civilians killed in Bihar). The percentage of civilian fatalities in the ‘Axis’ region to civilian fatalities in Bihar stood at 92.30 in 2019 (12 out of 13). Since March 6, 2000, when SATP started compiling data, this region accounted for 53.16 per cent of total civilian fatalities recorded in the State (260 out of 489 fatalities).

While no SF fatality has been reported in the State in the current year (data till November 29, 2020), the region recorded one fatality in this category in 2019. Despite this, the overall SF:Maoist kill ratio in the ‘Axis’ region, since March 6, 2000, remains in favour of the Maoists at 1.44:1. However, during the same period, when the whole of Bihar is taken into consideration, the ratio favours the SFs at 1:1.18.

The six Districts comprising the ‘Axis’ region accounted for 53.33 per cent of overall fatalities in Bihar in 2020 (8 out of 15). Significantly, the region accounted for 100 per cent of total fatalities in the State in 2016, 91.66 per cent in 2017, 92.85 per cent in 2018, and 90.47 per cent in 2019. Since March 6, 2000, the region recorded 49.14 per cent of the overall fatalities in the State. The region has been the epicentre of Maoist violence in Bihar.

Not surprisingly, all of these six Districts (Aurangabad, Gaya, Nawada, Jamui, Lakhisarai and Munger) are among the 90 Districts in 11 States that are LWE-affected, according to a February 5, 2019, Government release. Further, four of these six Districts (Aurangabad, Gaya, Jamui and Lakhisarai) are among the ‘30 worst Maoist-affected’ Districts, across seven States in the country, according to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA).

Significantly, four of these six Districts (Aurangabad, Gaya, Nawada and Jamui) are among the most underdeveloped areas of the State and are listed among the ‘Aspirational Districts’ included in the 'Aspirational Districts Programme'. The programme focuses on five main themes – Health & Nutrition, Education, Agriculture & Water Resources, Financial Inclusion & Skill Development, and Basic Infrastructure – which have direct bearing on the quality of life and the economic productivity of citizens.

Along with existing backwardness, five of these six Districts (barring Lakhisarai) share borders with Maoist-affected Jharkhand, thus adding to their vulnerability.

Of late, however, the Maoist strength in the region has dwindled as compared to the past, as in all other areas of erstwhile Maoist activity. According to Rajiv Mishra, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Gaya District, the Maoist base has weakened in the region on account of increased Police mobility and the execution of development projects. On August 30, 2020, Mishra noted,

Reiterating a similar view on September 12, 2020, Mishra stated,

Earlier, on July 29, 2020, S.M. Khopade, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Operations, has similarly claimed that the supply chain of the Maoists, including that for ration and other basic provisions, had effectively been broken following continuous vigil and surveillance.

The enhanced security presence during the lockdown measures to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the State further facilitated SFs in cornering the Maoists' grip. The coronavirus lockdown disrupted Maoist supply chains and weakened their operational capacities across the State.

On October 4, 2020, an unnamed senior Police official asserted that, though Maoist activities had been on the wane in recent years in the 16 Maoist affected Districts of the State [Arwal, Aurangabad, Banka, East Champaran, Gaya, Jamui, Jehanabad, Kaimur, Lakhisarai, Munger, Muzaffarpur, Nalanda, Nawada, Rohtas, Vaishali, West Champaran], land mines remained a challenge, more prominently in the ‘Axis’  region. Indeed, as reported on October 4, 2020, the Superintendents of Police (SPs) of several Districts, including the ‘Axis’ region, had asked Police Headquarters for satellite phones, additional central paramilitary forces and deep search metal detectors to look for landmines during anti-Maoist operations.

On October 3, 2020, Manu Maharaaj, the Munger range Deputy Inspector General of Police warned that the Maoists could execute a major incident in Jamui, Munger and Lakhisarai Districts as a result of frustration caused by sustained and prolonged anti-Maoist operations by SFs.

Worryingly, on November 18, 2020, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) issued orders for the permanent withdrawal of two regular CRPF battalions from Bihar, to be redeployed in Chhattisgarh. Previously, on May 5, 2019, when the UMHA had proposed the withdrawal of two battalions of CRPF deployed in LWE affected areas in Bihar, the State Government had observed,

The ‘Axis’ region in Bihar showcases a zone where the Maoists retain a significant measure of resilience and capacities to operate and inflict violence. Sustained SF operations, in combination with administrative outreach in the region, are necessary to ensure that that the gains of recent years are consolidated further, and the menace of this enduring insurgency is finally countered.

NEPAL

Sustained Crackdown
S. Binodkumar Singh
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management

On November 25, 2020, two cadres of the outlawed Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-Maoist-Chand) were arrested on charges of carrying out the explosion at the Tapli Municipality office of Udayapur District in Province No. 1 on November 22. No one was injured in the incident.

On November 23, 2020, Police arrested four cadres of the CPN-Maoist-Chand from the Deurali area of Pokhara city in Kaski District, Province No. 4. The arrested persons are Kumar Pariyar, Yam Prasad Bhattarai, Kali Bahadur Pandey and Bishal Shrestha.

On November 22, 2020, a CPN-Maoist-Chand cadre, Dipendra Singh Airee (22), was arrested while he was distributing flyers along the Brahma Dev Highway in Kanchanpur District, Province No. 7.

On November 20, 2020, two CPN-Maoist-Chand cadres were arrested from Jwagal in Lalitpur Metropolitan City, Lalitpur District, Province No. 3, on charges of extorting money from businessmen and industrialists. Prem Darnal (41) and Sanjib Nepali (39),  who were arrested, are members of the party’s ‘central department of finance’.

On November 11, 2020, Police arrested four CPN-Maoist-Chand cadres from Kathmandu city, Province No. 3, on extortion charges. Those arrested were identified as Bintos Silwal (33), Ramdal Shrestha (31), Tirtha Man Tamang (51) and Nandu Raj Acharya (42).

On November 5, 2020, the Armed Police Force (APF) arrested two CPN-Maoist-Chand cadres, Khem Pradhan and Tikaram Chaudhary, in Kathmandu city and recovered leaflets, banners, three mobile phones, and extortion documents from them.

According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), since March 12, 2019, when the CPN-Maoist-Chand was banned, at least 242 leaders and cadres of the outfit have been arrested across the country (data till November 29, 2020). Prominent CPN-Maoist-Chand leaders arrested include ‘central commander’ Hemanta Prakash Oli (arrested on March 23, 2019); ‘central leader’ Nar Bahadur Karki (June 24, 2019); ‘central committee member’ Gunaraj Lohani (October 22, 2019); ‘central committee member’ Chudamani Oli (November 8, 2019); ‘provincial leader’ Sitadevi Mahara, (December 14, 2019); ‘treasurer’ Arjun Katwal (February 4, 2020); ‘provincial leader’ Indal Prasad Sah (February 12, 2020); ‘politburo member’ Anil Sharma aka Birahi, (May 5, 2020) and ‘central member’ Om Prakash Pun (July 15, 2020).

Moreover, one District in-charge and seven cadres of the CPN-Maoist-Chand have been killed in various operations across the country during this period. The last of these eight killings was reported on July 10, 2019, when CPN-Maoist-Chand cadre Nir Kumar Rai was killed in an exchange of fire between the Police and CPN-Maoist-Chand cadres in Bhojpur District, Province No. 1.

However, despite the Nepal Government’s continuous clampdown on the CPN-Maoist-Chand, the group continued to engage in violence.

On January 15, 2020, a bomb exploded at the residence of Shobha Kanta Dhakal in Baluwatar area of Katmandu District in Province No. 3. The glass windows of the house and a parked vehicle inside the compound were damaged in the blast, though nobody was hurt. CPN-Maoist-Chand took responsibility for the blast.

On January 26, 2020, an explosive device was detonated at the project site of the under-construction 900-megawatt Arun III Hydropower Project in the Sankhuwasabha District of Province No. 1. Police suspect the explosion was carried out by CPN-Maoist-Chand cadres, as the hydropower project has repeatedly faced such attacks, with the blame often going to the group.

On March 11, 2020, CPN-Maoist-Chand cadres exploded an improvised explosive device (IED) at an under-construction house belonging to former Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gokul Prasad Baskota, in Madhyapur Thimi, Bhaktapur District, Province No 3. No injuries were reported as no workers were present at the site. However, the window glasses of two houses in the neighbourhood were damaged in the explosion.

On November 22, 2020, a bomb went off at the help desk area of the Tapli Municipality office in Udayapur District, Province No. 1. The explosion damaged equipment in the offices, including computers, printers, cabinets and sofas. No group or individual claimed responsibility for the action. However, Police suspect that the explosion was carried out by CPN-Maoist-Chand cadres.

According to the SATP database since March 12, 2019, the day CPN-Maoist-Chand was banned, the group has been involved in at least seven incidents of violence resulting in the death of two civilians, two Security Force (SF) personnel and eight of its own cadres (data till November 29, 2020). 

CPN-Maoist-Chand was formed on December 1, 2014, after splitting from the Communist Party of Nepal (Revolutionary Maoist) headed by Mohan Baidya. Soon after, it initiated violence across the country. According to the SATP database, between January 19, 2015, the day of the first reported incident of violence by the outfit, and March 12, 2019, the day it was banned, the group was involved in at least 32 incidents of violence, resulting in the death of one civilian and injuries to 19 others, including 17 civilians and two Policemen, across the country.

The Government had attempted to hold talks with its leadership before banning the outfit. On August 25, 2018, for instance, the Government formed a five-member High-Level Political Talks Team led by Nepal Communist Party (NCP) lawmaker Som Prasad Pandey. However, the team couldn't even initiate the process, as Chand paid no heed to repeated approaches for talks by the team. Even after banning the group, the Government has been making efforts to bring the outfit to the negotiation table. On October 24, 2019, Minister of Communications and Information Technology Gokul Prasad Baskota, in a press meet at the Ministry, stated that dialogue with CPN-Maoist-Chand was possible if the group accepted the Constitution. He urged the party to give up violence and accept the Constitution, which had ensured almost all rights, including political, social and other rights.

Separately, on January 11, 2020, the Co-Chairman of the Nepal Communist Party (NCP), Pushpa Kamal Dahal, urging CPN-Maoist-Chand cadres to join the ruling NCP without any delay declared, "I urge members of Chand-led party not to delay to join our party. The Communist parties should join hands together to successfully achieve socialism in the country."

Meanwhile, in a statement issued by the group, on October 21, 2020, CPN-Maoist-Chand announced a week-long protest against the Government from October 31 to November 5, citing the poor response to the COVID-19 crisis. The group also accused the Government of its involvement in corruption. In the statement, the group accused the Government of being irresponsible towards the people and the nation, stating that its actions had threatened nationality, democracy and public life, making these more vulnerable.

As the CPN-Maoist-Chand group has been refusing to come to the negation table, Minister for Home Affairs Ram Bahadur Thapa, on October 16, 2020, in an indirect reference to the outfit, without naming it, observed,

CPN-Maoist-Chand has suffered a blow to its morale in recent days, as the Government continues its crackdown against the group. It has lost many of its cadres while a large number of party leaders and cadres are already in jail. However, with the CPN-Maoist-Chand refusing to negotiate and continuing its violent and disruptive activities, there is a risk to the new Constitution and the newly established federal republic system in the country. With rising political instability in the country, there is always a lurking danger of escalation of violence by opportunistic formations such as the Chand group.