Maharashtra (Maoist Insurgency): Timeline (Terrorist Activities) -2016

A grant of INR 10 billion was on January 6 approved by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) for 35 worst Naxal-[Left Wing Extremist (LWE)]-affected districts spread across seven States to carry out development work and augmenting facilities to fight the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), reports The Hindu. The affected areas include 16 districts in Jharkhand, eight in Chhattisgarh, six in Bihar, two in Odisha and one each in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The Ministry allocated fund at the rate of INR 280.57 million per district. Read less...

A Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist)‘commander’ carrying reward of INR 1.2 million on his head, surrendered on January 17 before the Gadchiroli District Police along with his wife and another woman cadre, reports The Hindu. Each of the women Maoists, wanted for their alleged role in various encounters with the police, carried reward of INR 200,000 on their heads. “Baburao Pesu Devu Wachami, the platoon commander of ’Chamorshi Dalam’ (armed squad), was allegedly involved in four serious offences including three encounters with police and a bomb blast,” the Police stated in a press release. Wachami’s wife Payki Girija Madika Barse, working for ‘Sitapur Dalam’, also laid down arms. Read less...

Diliip Uikey alias Guha, a top Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) leader who was active in three states for nearly two decades and named in more than 200 cases, including 19 murders in Balaghat District of Madhya Pradesh (MP), will be questioned by the Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh Police, officials said on January 20, reports Hindustan Times. Guha, who hails from Matte village in Balaghat District, was arrested from the jungles in Songudda in Balaghat by the MP Police in May, 2015. He carried a total of Rs 3.5 million cash reward on his head. According to Police, Guha was a member of the Malajkhand dalam (armed squad) in the mid-1990s and later became the ‘deputy commander’ of a special guerilla squad before becoming the ‘divisional commander’ of Gadchiroli-Balaghat-Gondia committee of CPI-Maoist in 2008. Read less...

The Communist Party of IndiaMaoist(CPIMaoist) in Maharashtra has issued a ‘hit list’ of 37 persons who they vow to eliminate in 2016, reports The Hindu on January 21. The Maoists have roped in units of ‘Company10’, trained to kill with precision, from Chhattisgarh to execute the plan. Contrary to the Maharashtra government’s recent claim that LeftWing Extremism (LWE) is on the wane, the State faces a renewed red cadre that has vowed to eliminate 37 senior Police officers and informants in 2016. “This the latest hit list is a matter of serious concern for the State, even as inputs show new strategies are being adopted to attract youth with fresh vigour,” an intelligence note in possession of The Hindu reads. Read less...

Separately, Centre on January 27, approved the raising of three India Reserve Battalions (IRBs) in Odisha, reports Prameya News7. At present, there are eight IRBs in Odisha. While Odisha got three along with neighbouring Jharkhand, five in Jammu and Kashmir, four in Chhattisgarh and two in Maharashtra were approved by Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Union Cabinet also approved seventy five percent of the vacancies of constables to be filled up from 27 core Districts in the four LeftWing Extremism (LWE) affected states of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Maharashtra under Security Related Expenditure (SRE) scheme. Read less...