South Asia Terrorism Portal

INDIA

Jammu and Kashmir: TRF: The Garb of 'Hybrid Terror'
Sanchita Bhattacharya
Research Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management

On July 12, 2022, a Police officer was killed and two Constables were injured when terrorists attacked a Police team at a checkpoint in the Lal Bazaar area of Srinagar, the capital of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). The Resistance Front (TRF) claimed that its “Falcon Squad #TRF carried out a surprise attack” and warned, “Our next surprise attack will be more surprising.” Later, the Islamic State Hind Province also claimed responsibility for the attack. Such cross-claims have occurred in the past as well.

On March 30, 2022, two local terrorists of TRF were killed in an encounter with the Police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in the Rainawari area of Srinagar. Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir Range, Vijay Kumar, disclosed that both militants had been involved in several recent terrorist crimes, including civilian killings.

On March 16, three TRF terrorists were killed in an encounter in the Nowgam area of Srinagar. The slain cadres were identified as Adil Nabi Teli, Shakir Ahmad Tantray, and Yasir Ahmad Wagay. IGP Kumar noted that the trio had been involved in the killing of Sarpanch (head of Panchayat, village level local-self Government institution) Sameer Ahmed Bhat of Khonmoh on March 9, 2022. IGP Kumar added that the slain trio was planning to attack Security Forces (SFs).

On February 5, 2022, SFs killed two TRF militants during a gunfight in the Zakura area of Srinagar. One of the killed terrorists, Ikhlaq Hajam, was involved in killing of Head Constable Ali Mohammad at Hassanpora in Anantnag District on January 29, 2022.

According to partial data collated by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), since October 12, 2019, the date of the ‘inception’ of TRF, at least 44 TRF-linked fatalities have been recorded in J&K (data till July 24, 2022).  These include 10 civilians, four SF personnel and 30 TRF cadres.  44 TRF terrorists have been arrested during this period.

TRF announced its arrival via the encrypted chat platform Telegram on October 12, 2019, following a grenade attack at Srinagar's Hari Singh High Street, in which seven civilians were injured. In its first message, posted on Telegram, taking responsibility for the grenade attack TRF had stated,

Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), under immense international pressure to act against terrorism, created several outfits, including the TRF, to give terrorism in J&K an 'indigenous' face, and to provide Pakistan's deep state an alibi. It is pertinent to recall here that several such efforts have been repeated over the past three decades by Rawalpindi. However, the lie has been exposed again and again.

As reported on May 8, 2020, IGP, Vijay Kumar had observed:

Not surprisingly, in April 2020, the TRF came under the scanner of government agencies in India for its suspected links with LeT. An unnamed Enforcement Directorate (ED) official stated, “We have reason to believe that the outfit is a front for the LeT.”

Indeed, emulating earlier organisations like the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), TRF tried to employ a seemingly ‘secular’ discourse with the eye-wash of a ‘secular’ nomenclature in order to distance itself from the Islamist narrative of other Pakistan-based J&K/India oriented terrorist groups. The name TRF was an attempt to ‘secularize’ the idea of jihad and present the Kashmir insurgency as a political cause rather than a religious war, as was manifested in the names of groups such as the  LeT and the Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM).

In reality, however, this is just a farce. Indeed, as reported on October 13, 2021, in an audio recording broadcast by CNN-News18, an unnamed female TRF operative instructed girls to wear Abaaya, as it is Islamic outfit and only go out when necessary. She also warned girls not to wear skirts and jeans and not to go out alone and not be seen with men in public. TRF declared that if women did not fall in line with these commands, they would face the wrath of the group.

Further, in an audio message that was released on May 1, 2022, purportedly to wish listeners a happy Eid, TRF declared,

Meanwhile, a June 4, 2022 report stated that new stratagems and tactics are being used by TRF and its ISI masters. Chits are being sent to the homes of potential killers, giving the address of a bus stand in Jammu, from where they are driven on a nondescript two-wheeler to a location where a handgun and a photograph is provided. The youth then returns to the Valley and kills the designated target, returning to his ‘normal’ life, thereafter. This is the characteristic pattern of recruiting ‘hybrid terrorists’: local youth with no criminal record. In such a situation, it has become very difficult for the security agencies to identify them.

Amidst the growing TRF threat, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has taken up the investigation of two TRF-related cases.  In the first, initially registered in Jammu on June 27, 2021, and subsequently taken over by the NIA on July 19, 2021, investigations have so far revealed that “terrorist acts committed by Pakistan-based handlers of LeT and their associates based in J&K would be taken by the pseudo-acronym TRF so as to maintain plausible deniability and evade Law Enforcement Agencies.” In this case, the NIA has so far arrested two persons – Tawseef Ahmed Wani and Faiz Ahmed Khan, on October 10, 2021.

In the second case, that relates to activities of TRF and its self-styled 'commander' Sajjad Gul, who has been actively radicalising, motivating and recruiting youth of J&K to undertake violent activities in J&K and other parts of India, registered suo moto by NIA on November 18, 2021, the NIA has so far arrested four persons. Most recently, on June 22, 2022, NIA conducted searches at 11 locations in J&K in Srinagar, Kulgam, Pulwama and Ganderbal districts, and arrested Mudasir Ahmed Dar from Kulgam. He was arrested for providing logistical support and transporting arms and ammunition to TRF. He was closely associated with the TRF ‘commander’ responsible for the recent targeted killings across the Kashmir Valley, and was also involved in radicalisation and recruitment of impressionable youth at the behest of TRF. Further investigations in both the cases continue.

The ISI is evidently trying hard to ensure that the TRF emerge as a potent force. However, TRF’s future in terms of establishing itself as a prominent terrorist organisation in the Valley remains uncertain.

INDIA

Maharashtra: Gadchiroli: Enhancing Security
Deepak Kumar Nayak
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management

On June 22, 2022, Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres killed a disabled tribal, identified as Lucky Kumar Oksa (38), in Malampudur village under the Bhamragarh Taluka (administrative division) in Gadchiroli District. Kumar, a resident of Bhusewada village and a manager at a tendu (Diospyros Melonoxylon plant) leaves collection centre, was dragged out of his house in the night and taken to a nearby forest, where he was killed with a sharp weapon. Superintendent of Police (SP), Ankit Goyal later stated, “There is no clarity about the motive of the murder. This year, Maoists have killed several people without any motive for their action.”

On May 23, 2022, a local tribal, identified as Kulle Kowasi (42), was killed by Maoists near Doddur village under the Etapalli Taluka in Gadchiroli District. Kowasi was abducted and thrashed, before being killed. He had been trying to get a road to his village, opposing the Maoists’ diktat, according to the local tribals.

On May 16, 2022, armed CPI-Maoist cadres axed their former colleague Neema Mendhi to death at his village, Mendhri, in the Etapalli Taluka in Gadchiroli District. They claimed in a pamphlet that Mendhi was a ‘police informer’. Mendhi had surrendered a few years earlier.

These incidents are the latest among many, in which the Maoists have killed civilians to terrorize the wider population.

According to partial data collated by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), at least five civilians have been killed in Gadchiroli since the beginning of the current year (data till July 24, 2022). During the corresponding period of 2021, three civilians had been killed. A total of four civilians were killed through 2021. Since March 6, 2000, when SATP, started compiling data on Left Wing Extremism (LWE) in India, at least 187 civilians have been killed in the district. The first Maoist-linked incident of killing in this category in the district was recorded on March 10, 2000, when Naxalites (Left Wing Extremists) of the banned Peoples' War Group (PWG), had killed a farmer and blown up the house of a Range Forest Officer (RFO) in Sawargaon in Gadchiroli District. The RFO and his family were away from home at the time of the blast. A peak of 36 such killings was recorded in 2011, while a low of one civilian fatality was recorded twice, in 2002 and 2004.

In a positive change, no SF trooper has been killed in the current year, thus far, (data till July 24, 2022), as in 2021. However, three SF personnel were killed in 2020, and 15 in 2019 – the highest in a year since 2010, when there were 15 SF fatalities. A peak of 52 such fatalities was recorded in 2009. Also, no Maoist has been killed in the current year, as yet. However, a total of 49 Maoists were killed through 2021.  Significantly, in a major assault on November 13, 2021, at least 26 CPI-Maoist cadres including Maoist leader Milind Baburao Teltumbde aka Deepak Teltumbde aka Sahyadri aka Jeeva, a ‘central committee’ member and ‘secretary’ of the CPI-Maoist ‘Maharashtra State Committee,’ carrying a reward of INR five million on his head, were killed in an encounter with SFs in the dense forests of Mardintola in the Gyarapatti area of Korchi Tehsil (revenue unit) in Gadchiroli District.

Meanwhile, Maoists continue to hamper developmental works in the district and neighbouring areas. Most recently, on June 30, 2022, CPI-Maoist cadres set ablaze six vehicles at a road construction site near Visamundi village under Nargunda Police Assistance Centre in Gadchiroli District. The armed Maoists assaulted the labourers working there and stopped ongoing work. At least three such incidents have already been recorded in the district in the current year, in addition to another such incident in 2021. A total of 20 incidents of arson have been recorded in the district, since March 6, 2000.

Meanwhile, according to a June 10, 2022, report, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has deployed a contingent of over 70 armed personnel to provide counter-terrorist security cover to the manufacturing plant of leading steel maker Jindal Steel Works (JSW) at Dolvi village in Raigad district. A CISF spokesperson disclosed,

Gadchiroli has, for long, served as ideal terrain for the Maoists to operate, as the task of locating and sanitizing Maoist hideouts is made difficult by the terrain. Of the district’s total area of 14,412 square kilometres, around 11,694 square kilometres, i.e., 78.40 per cent, falls under forest cover, making it difficult to penetrate. Further, its borders with four Districts – Bijapur, Kanker, Narayanpur, and Rajnandgaon in Chhattisgarh, the worst Naxal-affected Indian State, as well as two Maoist affected Districts – Adilabad and Karimnagar – of Telangana, makes it an ideal safe haven for the Maoists.

Not surprisingly, Gadchiroli finds place in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) list of  ‘25 Most Affected Districts’ from eight States across India released on June 19, 2021. Moreover, Gadchiroli, along with its neighbouring District, Gondia, is also included among the 70 Naxal-affected Districts in 10 States across India, to be covered under the Centre’s ‘Security Related Expenditure (SRE)’ scheme, which funds focused operations against the extremists.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra's Director General of Police (DGP) Rajnish Seth directed Police personnel engaged in anti-Naxal operations to be cautious during operations and stressed the need for greater use of technology. On April 13, 2022, DGP Seth stated,

Moreover, according, to a May 22, 2022, report, Police have introduced a single-window facilitation service, 'Police Dadalora Khidki' (Police Brother's Window), at 50 Police posts located deep inside the district, which has a 76 per cent forest cover, to simplify the process for the tribal population to connect with the district administration to avail benefits of government schemes.

Further, according to a June 20, 2022, report, the State Government has doubled the Commando Allowance for the elite C-60 Commandos posted in Gadchiroli. An unnamed home department official said,

An unnamed Police officer talking about C-60 stated,

On the other hand, to keep themselves relevant among the youth, the CPI-Maoist extended support to youth protesting against the central government’s new defense recruitment scheme, Agnipath. In an appeal to tribes, Abhay, the ‘spokesperson’ of the CPI-Maoist, on June 20, 2022, dubbed the Agnipath scheme as a “fascist instrument” to suppress the people in the name of employment generation. He issued an appeal to intensify the ongoing stir against the Agnipath scheme.

The Maoists are certainly losing their sway in Gadchiroli, as in other parts of their erstwhile areas of dominance, but they continue to look for every possible opportunity for revival. Sustained efforts by the SFs are, consequently, necessary to consolidate cumulative gains and keep the insurgents at bay.