Re: The Red Menace
Posted: 12 Nov 2009 21:23
PC asks states to build local intelligence network
New Delhi, August 19, 2009
As security forces continue to battle Naxals in West Bengal’s Lalgarh district, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram has told Naxal-affected states to focus on building local intelligence network to enable focused operations in Maoist strongholds.
The home minister — who succeeded in building a political consensus around his strategy to tackle Naxals at Monday’s chief ministers conference — referred to the long-drawn anti-Naxal operation in Lalgarh and said in future operations, security forces should ensure that the Naxals are not able to flee from the targeted areas.
“There was a consensus at the meeting on the strategy that needs to be adopted for fighting Naxalism,” a home ministry spokesman said on Tuesday.
West Bengal — the only Naxal-affected state that had not sent any political representative to the conference — however, conveyed that the state government was on board.
Home Ministry officials said all states concerned had, by and large, agreed to place the joint operations, to be launched later this year, in the hands of an inspector general of police/additional director general level officer of the para-military forces.
“This,” a home ministry official said, “would ensure that the operations were not jeopardised due to ego clashes between police officers from different states.” For now, the home ministry is trying to cobble up a substantial number of security personnel, drawn from different para-military forces, to put together a sizeable task force.
Signalling the Centre’s intent to act against the Naxals, Chidambaram outlined areas of concern that the states needed to address.
For one, Chidambaram emphasised strengthening rural policing by filling up vacancies, fortifying police stations and developing the capacity in the state police to generate local intelligence.
The home minister emphasised that while the Intelligence Bureau was on its job, the nature of intelligence that was churned up at the national level was different. If the forces were to conduct surgical operations, an official said, there were limits to how much the forces could depend on satellite imagery and technical intelligence.
Jail security in Bihar tightened after alert on Maoists
Patna, November 12, 2009
Security around 12 jails in Bihar has been tightened in view of intelligence reports that Naxalites are planning to carry out a major operation on the pattern of the Jehanabad jailbreak in November 2005.
“We have received intelligence inputs about Maoists’ plan to carry out a major attack on Bihar jails in November,” said a senior police officer posted at the state police headquarters.
He said SPs of about a dozen districts had been asked to intensify patrolling around jails in which hard-boiled Naxal leaders were lodged. “Additional police personnel had been deployed in these jails as a precautionary measure,” he added.
A Home department official said that a close watch was being kept on some prisoners booked in cases related to Naxal violence. Besides, CCTVs have been installed at the entrance of some important jails to watch activities of visitors to the jail.
“As a precautionary measure, instructions are being issued to jail superintendents concerned to shift hardened Naxals to different wards and if required to other jails,” he said, adding that the intelligence wing was also being strengthened.
Sources said that the Naxalites held a secret meeting at a village in Jehanabad district recently to chalk out a strategy to carry out a major operations. A repeat of the Jehanabad jailbreak was aimed at emboldening the lower rung cadre.
“The Maoists planned to attack Gaurichak police station in Patna rural to divert the attention of the police. The Beur Central Jail, which at present has more than a dozen hard-boiled Naxal leaders, is a target of the Maoists,” he said.
“As the Beur jail is located in a densely populated area and also close to the National Highway, it is easy for Maoists to carry out such an operation,” said the police official. “The recovery of a huge quantity of explosives, arms and ammunition over the last several days in the State capital indicates the nefarious design of Maoists,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Bihar police have sought 12 additional battalions of the Central Para-military Police Force (CPMF) to carry out a special drive against Naxals. At present, the state has 23 companies of the CPMF.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-new ... 75613.aspx
Stray dog, not watchdog, guards Bengal’s border
Cupan (Jamboni), Nov. 11: When the Bengal government says it wants to step up vigil along the state’s borders, it possibly means leaving checkposts to stray dogs.
That was the only form of life visible on a visit to the post through which the Maoist guerrillas had slipped into Jhar-khand after shooting dead four paramilitary personnel in Jamboni on Sunday .
Villagers saw the suspec-ted assailants zoom away on motorcycles under a bamboo post half-lowered across the metalled road.
Housewife Asha Tudu said she saw guns on their should-ers when the two-wheelers slowed down because of potholes ahead of what should have been the checkpost. “There were eight bikes and they seemed to be in a hurry,” said Asha, 24.
On the other side of the bamboo post is Jharkhand, the state Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee accuses of providing a safe haven to the guerrillas.
But the only time Asha, a resident of border village Cupan, has seen police at the checkpost set up with the promise of round-the-clock vigil is when it was built, after the security forces moved into Lalgarh amid fanfare in June.
“About 50 policemen were there that day. And that was it,” the woman said.
The inspector in charge of Jamboni police station threw up his hands in a gesture of helplessness. He said it was impossible to man such border posts with the strength his station had.
“It is true that I’m responsible for manning it. But I have only 36 policemen at the police station and I have to take care of 326.5sqkm covering 338 villages under 10 gram panchayats. How can I deploy my men at the border post?” Lokeman Hussain asked.
A senior West Midnapore police officer appeared to reject the officer’s excuse. “The local police station should have deployed at least two personnel there round the clock. Had its officers done that, the Maoists guerrillas could not have come on motorcycles, killed four EFR personnel and left so easily.”
Policing in the neighbouring state is equally lax. The residents of Dumuria, in Jharkhand, said the police were a rare sight in the area.
“There is hardly any patrolling during the day. After sunset, I can assure you there is nothing at all,” said Manoj Jana, a farmhand in his 30s.
“We live at their (Maoists’) mercy. Now it appears that the Maoists are our protectors, not the police,” he added.
The villagers here call the guerrillas Bonparty (jungle party).
At the Porihati bazaar near the border, Jana said they saw the Bonparty often. “They come here to collect biscuit packets, medicines, vegetables and mustard oil. We know all this, but the police don’t.”
The police admit that their intelligence network has coll-apsed. “We know they (the Maoists) come, roam freely and leave the area, but we can’t enter the villages deep inside the forests because we find ourselves outnumbered,” said a Jamboni officer.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091112/j ... 731290.jsp
Yechury has close links with Maoists: Mamata
Thu, Nov 12 02:25 PM
New Delhi, Nov 12 (IANS) All leaders of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), particularly its politburo member Sitaram Yechury, have a close association with Maoists, Trinamool Congress chief and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee has alleged.
It was because of Yechury's proximity to top Maoist leaders in Nepal that the first United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government sent him as envoy to the country after the monarchy was established, Banerjee told reporters Wednesday evening.
She was speaking on the sidelines of a function at party colleague Mukul Roy's residence to mark the victory of the Trinamool Congress in assembly by-elections in West Bengal.
Attacking the Maoists and the Marxists for the increasing violence in West Bengal, Banerjee countered allegations from the CPI-M and said her party did not have any association with Maoist leader Kishenji.
'Who is this Kishenji?' Banerjee asked and added that her party had never believed in the ideology of either Marxism and Maoism.
'We are from the Congress background. We believe in the teachings of Mahatmaji (Mahatma Gandhi) and Netaji (Subhas Chandra Bose).'
She said West Bengal Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen had clearly stated that there was no evidence to prove that the Trinamool Congress had any Maoist link.
New Delhi, August 19, 2009
As security forces continue to battle Naxals in West Bengal’s Lalgarh district, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram has told Naxal-affected states to focus on building local intelligence network to enable focused operations in Maoist strongholds.
The home minister — who succeeded in building a political consensus around his strategy to tackle Naxals at Monday’s chief ministers conference — referred to the long-drawn anti-Naxal operation in Lalgarh and said in future operations, security forces should ensure that the Naxals are not able to flee from the targeted areas.
“There was a consensus at the meeting on the strategy that needs to be adopted for fighting Naxalism,” a home ministry spokesman said on Tuesday.
West Bengal — the only Naxal-affected state that had not sent any political representative to the conference — however, conveyed that the state government was on board.
Home Ministry officials said all states concerned had, by and large, agreed to place the joint operations, to be launched later this year, in the hands of an inspector general of police/additional director general level officer of the para-military forces.
“This,” a home ministry official said, “would ensure that the operations were not jeopardised due to ego clashes between police officers from different states.” For now, the home ministry is trying to cobble up a substantial number of security personnel, drawn from different para-military forces, to put together a sizeable task force.
Signalling the Centre’s intent to act against the Naxals, Chidambaram outlined areas of concern that the states needed to address.
For one, Chidambaram emphasised strengthening rural policing by filling up vacancies, fortifying police stations and developing the capacity in the state police to generate local intelligence.
The home minister emphasised that while the Intelligence Bureau was on its job, the nature of intelligence that was churned up at the national level was different. If the forces were to conduct surgical operations, an official said, there were limits to how much the forces could depend on satellite imagery and technical intelligence.
Jail security in Bihar tightened after alert on Maoists
Patna, November 12, 2009
Security around 12 jails in Bihar has been tightened in view of intelligence reports that Naxalites are planning to carry out a major operation on the pattern of the Jehanabad jailbreak in November 2005.
“We have received intelligence inputs about Maoists’ plan to carry out a major attack on Bihar jails in November,” said a senior police officer posted at the state police headquarters.
He said SPs of about a dozen districts had been asked to intensify patrolling around jails in which hard-boiled Naxal leaders were lodged. “Additional police personnel had been deployed in these jails as a precautionary measure,” he added.
A Home department official said that a close watch was being kept on some prisoners booked in cases related to Naxal violence. Besides, CCTVs have been installed at the entrance of some important jails to watch activities of visitors to the jail.
“As a precautionary measure, instructions are being issued to jail superintendents concerned to shift hardened Naxals to different wards and if required to other jails,” he said, adding that the intelligence wing was also being strengthened.
Sources said that the Naxalites held a secret meeting at a village in Jehanabad district recently to chalk out a strategy to carry out a major operations. A repeat of the Jehanabad jailbreak was aimed at emboldening the lower rung cadre.
“The Maoists planned to attack Gaurichak police station in Patna rural to divert the attention of the police. The Beur Central Jail, which at present has more than a dozen hard-boiled Naxal leaders, is a target of the Maoists,” he said.
“As the Beur jail is located in a densely populated area and also close to the National Highway, it is easy for Maoists to carry out such an operation,” said the police official. “The recovery of a huge quantity of explosives, arms and ammunition over the last several days in the State capital indicates the nefarious design of Maoists,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Bihar police have sought 12 additional battalions of the Central Para-military Police Force (CPMF) to carry out a special drive against Naxals. At present, the state has 23 companies of the CPMF.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-new ... 75613.aspx
Stray dog, not watchdog, guards Bengal’s border
Cupan (Jamboni), Nov. 11: When the Bengal government says it wants to step up vigil along the state’s borders, it possibly means leaving checkposts to stray dogs.
That was the only form of life visible on a visit to the post through which the Maoist guerrillas had slipped into Jhar-khand after shooting dead four paramilitary personnel in Jamboni on Sunday .
Villagers saw the suspec-ted assailants zoom away on motorcycles under a bamboo post half-lowered across the metalled road.
Housewife Asha Tudu said she saw guns on their should-ers when the two-wheelers slowed down because of potholes ahead of what should have been the checkpost. “There were eight bikes and they seemed to be in a hurry,” said Asha, 24.
On the other side of the bamboo post is Jharkhand, the state Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee accuses of providing a safe haven to the guerrillas.
But the only time Asha, a resident of border village Cupan, has seen police at the checkpost set up with the promise of round-the-clock vigil is when it was built, after the security forces moved into Lalgarh amid fanfare in June.
“About 50 policemen were there that day. And that was it,” the woman said.
The inspector in charge of Jamboni police station threw up his hands in a gesture of helplessness. He said it was impossible to man such border posts with the strength his station had.
“It is true that I’m responsible for manning it. But I have only 36 policemen at the police station and I have to take care of 326.5sqkm covering 338 villages under 10 gram panchayats. How can I deploy my men at the border post?” Lokeman Hussain asked.
A senior West Midnapore police officer appeared to reject the officer’s excuse. “The local police station should have deployed at least two personnel there round the clock. Had its officers done that, the Maoists guerrillas could not have come on motorcycles, killed four EFR personnel and left so easily.”
Policing in the neighbouring state is equally lax. The residents of Dumuria, in Jharkhand, said the police were a rare sight in the area.
“There is hardly any patrolling during the day. After sunset, I can assure you there is nothing at all,” said Manoj Jana, a farmhand in his 30s.
“We live at their (Maoists’) mercy. Now it appears that the Maoists are our protectors, not the police,” he added.
The villagers here call the guerrillas Bonparty (jungle party).
At the Porihati bazaar near the border, Jana said they saw the Bonparty often. “They come here to collect biscuit packets, medicines, vegetables and mustard oil. We know all this, but the police don’t.”
The police admit that their intelligence network has coll-apsed. “We know they (the Maoists) come, roam freely and leave the area, but we can’t enter the villages deep inside the forests because we find ourselves outnumbered,” said a Jamboni officer.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091112/j ... 731290.jsp
Yechury has close links with Maoists: Mamata
Thu, Nov 12 02:25 PM
New Delhi, Nov 12 (IANS) All leaders of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), particularly its politburo member Sitaram Yechury, have a close association with Maoists, Trinamool Congress chief and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee has alleged.
It was because of Yechury's proximity to top Maoist leaders in Nepal that the first United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government sent him as envoy to the country after the monarchy was established, Banerjee told reporters Wednesday evening.
She was speaking on the sidelines of a function at party colleague Mukul Roy's residence to mark the victory of the Trinamool Congress in assembly by-elections in West Bengal.
Attacking the Maoists and the Marxists for the increasing violence in West Bengal, Banerjee countered allegations from the CPI-M and said her party did not have any association with Maoist leader Kishenji.
'Who is this Kishenji?' Banerjee asked and added that her party had never believed in the ideology of either Marxism and Maoism.
'We are from the Congress background. We believe in the teachings of Mahatmaji (Mahatma Gandhi) and Netaji (Subhas Chandra Bose).'
She said West Bengal Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen had clearly stated that there was no evidence to prove that the Trinamool Congress had any Maoist link.