Dragon bares its fangs

 

 

The Maoist attack on Asia’s biggest bauxite mines in Orissa last week, followed quickly by an audacious assault on a BSF camp in Bihar on April 14, can be labelled as their latest show of strength. Besides, reports reaching from Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand suggest that their recent successes will only make them more confident, daring and therefore, difficult to tackle. With a clean sweep of the armoury of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) at the Nalco mines in Orissa, it is a much better armed outfit now. Orissa's intelligence officials had received a tip-off about the attack, according to some, way back in 2007. Security had been tightened around the area, but it all blew up on April 12, when the ultras successfully attacked and emptied the CISF armoury in the Damanjodi area of Koraput district, some 400 kilometres from state capital Bhubaneswar.

Eyewitness, Manoj Swain, a driver, told TSI : ``While I was sitting in the office, the gatekeeper telephoned to say that Maoists had attacked. A few minutes later, I saw five or six women Maoists with AK-47 rifles rushing towards us. I managed to close the office door and silently hung around. After a few minutes, I heard blasts and constant exchange of fire." According to police sources, a contingent of more than 200 Maoist cadres had launched the strike. Meanwhile, the 22-men CISF unit in the camp retaliated, and a fierce gun battle ensued, continuing till 6:00 am the next day.

Four Maoists, including a woman, were killed and 11 CISF jawans lost their lives. Sources reveal that CISF casualties were higher because no reinforcement reached them. “We have already launched combing operations and more central forces are about to join us,” Orissa Police chief Manmohan Praharaj, told the media. Meanwhile, in Bihar 12 Maoists were killed in action.

Two aspects of the Maoist strategy have surfaced through the attacks in the four states. Maoists have called for an election boycott, an old slogan, and they are determined to make people fall in line. The second aspect is their targets: almost invariably the ammunition storage of the security forces. So ammo will come from Orissa and Bihar while neighbouring Jharkhand, where 24 of the 28 districts are under Maoist sway, will be the revenue model for funding struggles. According to police estimates, Maoists there raise levy from the mines and government officials, earning up to Rs 100 crore a year.

In Chhattisgarh too, they are going from strength to strength, issuing poll-boycott orders and killing police and paramilitary forces deployed in sensitive areas. The key to the entire movement will now be the Maoists' ability to coordinate their attacks, particularly in states where they hold sway. If they can manage that, the leather hunt for police could have just begun.