India: Sinking Maoist Leadership – Analysis

By Deepak Kumar Nayak

On July 2, 2024, five Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) ‘Central Committee’ protection team members, identified as Rakesh (35), Konda Togda (30-35), Edma Wadde (40), Kamlu Wadde (40), and Farsa Tumda (30), each carrying a bounty of INR 800,000, were killed in an encounter with the Security Forces (SFs) in a forest under the Kohakmeta Police Station area in the Narayanpur District of the Bastar Division of Chhattisgarh. A huge cache of arms and ammunition was recovered from the encounter site, along with the bodies of the five Maoists. Bastar Range Inspector General of Police (IGP) Sunderraj P., noted, “The killing of five CC protection team members indicates the likely presence of Central Committee (CC) members of the outlawed CPI (Maoist) in the area. They may have fled the spot during the encounter.”

The 72-hour counterinsurgency operation was launched in the Hikulnar-Ghamandi area on June 30, 2024, following intelligence inputs on the presence of Maoist ‘Central Committee’ members Sonu and Kosa and ‘divisional committee members (DCMs)’ Arun, Ranita aka Jaymati, Radhika, Arab and Sukhlal, in the forested area.

On June 24, 2024, a CPI-Maoist ‘area committee member’ (ACM), Arun Mandavi, who carried INR 500,000 bounty, was killed by the SFs in an encounter near the villages of Muhkot and Aamjhar under Khallari Police Station limits in the Dhamtari district of Chhattisgarh. During the search after the encounter, apart from the dead body, a self-loaded rifle (SLR), ammunition, Maoist literature, and materials used in making improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were recovered from the site. Superintendent of Police (SP) Anjney Varshney disclosed, “He (Arun Mandavi) was active in the Sitanadi area committee of CPI (Maoist) and used to handle activities on the Gariabandh (Chhattisgarh) and Odisha border.” Mandavi was allegedly involved in various Maoist incidents, including an encounter with SFs in 2022 in the Sunabeda area of Odisha, and in another encounter in April 2024 in the Borai Police Station area of Dhamtari.

On June 17, 2024, three high-ranking CPI-Maoist cadres—’zonal commander’ Kande Honhaga from Thalkobad in Chaibasa, ‘sub-zonal commander’ Singrai aka Manoj from the Jaigur Police Station area in Chhattisgarh, and ‘area commander’ Surya aka Munda Devgam—were killed along with two female cadres, Junga Purty aka Marla and Sapni Hansda, in an encounter with SFs near Lipunga in the Tonto and Goilkera areas under Gua Police Station limits in the West Singhbhum District of Jharkhand. Jharkhand Police spokesperson and Inspector General of Police (IGP), Operations, Amol V. Homkar disclosed that Singrai had a bounty of INR 1 million, Kande INR 500,000, and Surya INR 200,000. Singrai and Kande were experts in laying IEDs. Also, two Maoists, identified as ‘area commander’ Pandu Hansda and woman Maoist Batri Devgam, were arrested by the SFs while attempting to flee, near the Lipunga forest area. Later, during search operations, one INSAS (Indian Small Arms System) assault rifle, two SLRs, three.303 rifles, and one 9mm pistol were also recovered from the site.

According to partial data collated by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), at least 1,959 leadership elements of Left-Wing Extremists (LWE) across the country have been neutralised since 2010 (data till July 14, 2024). These included at least 42 national-level leaders, 415 state-level leaders, and 1,502 local-level leaders. A closer analysis of the data indicates that, of the total 1,959 LWE leadership elements neutralized, 343 were killed. Of the 343 LWE leadership elements killed, at least nine were national-level leaders, 51 state-level leaders, and 283 local-level leaders.

Apart from this, in their operations against the LWEs, SFs arrested at least 27 national-level leaders, 275 state-level leaders, and 586 local-level leaders. Mounting SF pressure also yielded the surrender of six national-level leaders, 89 state-level leaders, and 633 local-level leaders.

These numbers are, however, a gross underestimate, due to under-reportage and other factors, which tend to depress the actual numbers.

Significantly, since March 6, 2000, when SATP started documenting LWE-related violence across the country, at least 4,477 LWE elements have been killed, while 16,515 have been arrested and 17,036 have surrendered.

Owing to serious ailments, the Maoists had, in recent years, lost senior and top-ranking members, including ‘Central Committee’ members: Ravula Srinivas aka Ramanna (56), died in the Bastar forests of Chhattisgarh on December 7, 2019; Akkiraju Haragopal aka Rama Krishna aka RK (65), died in the forests of south Bastar in Chhattisgarh on October 13, 2021; Purnendu Shekhar Mukherjee (75), died in Kolkata on August 7, 2021; Yapa Narayan aka Haribhushan (52) died due to Covid-19 in the jungles of Bastar on June 21, 2021; and Katti Mohan Rao aka Prakashanna, Damadada, died in the jungles of Telangana on June 10, 2021. Sharda, wife of Haribhushan, and Bharatakka, wife of Mohan Rao, also died of infection during the Covid-19 pandemic in June 2021.

Ramanna was one of the most commanding Maoist leaders and ‘Central Committee’ members, and had led several violent attacks on SFs in Chhattisgarh, including the killing of 76 CRPF jawans (troopers) at Chintalnar village in the Dantewada District of Chhattisgarh on April 6, 2010; 16 security personnel at Jeerum Nullah in Sukma District on March 11, 2014; and 25 CRPF personnel at Burkapal in Sukma District in April 2017.

The latest setback, which was admitted by the Maoists in their dispatches, was the death of ‘Central Committee’ member and ‘politburo’ members, Katakam Sudarshan aka Comrade Anand (70), who carried a bounty of INR 10 million from the Chhattisgarh Police, and who died of a heart attack in the Dandakaranya Forests of Chhattisgarh on May 31, 2023; and Malla Raji Reddy aka Sathanna aka Meesalanna aka Sangram (72), who died after a period of ill-health in the Dandakaranya Forest region of Chhattisgarh on August 18, 2023. In 1995, Sudarshan had been appointed ‘secretary’ of the ‘North Zone Special Zonal Committee (NZSZC)’ and then as the Maoist ‘CC’ member; while, Malla Raji shot into headlines for his role in the killing of former AP Speaker Sripada Rao in April 1999, and worked as in-charge of the Maoist ‘south-west regional bureau (SWRB), and also served as the secretary of the Maoist Odisha ‘state committee’.

At the time of its formation in 2004, CPI-Maoist reportedly had a 16-member strong ‘politburo’, the outfit’s highest decision-making body, and a 34-member strong ‘central committee’, (comprising of all the 16 politburo members and additional 18 members), the second highest decision-making body in the outfit.

Following the death of six members, the arrest of two, and one expelled (Kobad Ghandy) there are, at present, only seven members of the original ‘politburo’ ‘in position’ or whose whereabouts are not known.

LIST OF 2014 POLITBURO MEMBERS

Similarly, following the deaths of six members, the arrest of eight, and one surrendered, there are, at present, only three members of the additional 18 members, and seven politburo members, that is, 10 ‘CC’ members, who are still in position’ or whose whereabouts are not known.

LIST OF 2014 ADDITIONAL 18 MEMBERS of the ‘CC’

Moreover, of the five members added to the ‘alternate CC’, one member was killed, while the whereabouts of the remaining four are not known.

LIST OF ALTERNATE ‘CC’ MEMBERS

Further, of the three new members added to the ‘CC’, none of them are in position.

LIST OF NEWLY ADDED ‘CC’ MEMBERS

In the intervening period, in a significant change, according to a September 10, 2017, media report, the ‘chief’ of ‘Battalion No.1’ of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA), Madvi Hidma (32), was reportedly ‘promoted’ to the ‘CC’ and became the youngest member of the Committee. An officer involved in anti-Maoist operations in Bastar observed,

Hidma is junior to many leaders who were expecting induction in the central committee, like Venkatesh and Ganesh Uike. It will be interesting to see how they take his out of turn promotion. The Maoists’ maximum domination is in tribal areas like Bastar or tribal areas in Jharkhand. They want to create dominant zones on State tri-junctions and needed a tribal face.

Thus, only 15 members of the 43-member ‘CC’, including the ‘alternate CC’ and the new ‘CC’, are ‘operational’: seven ‘politburo’, three ‘CC’, and four ‘alternate CC’ members and Hidma.

According to an April 9, 2024, report, a Maoist release claimed that over 5,000 ultras had been killed by SFs over the preceding two decades, across the country. They further claimed that around 50 cadres had been killed since January 2024. Besides, according to the release, as many as 22 Maoists have been killed in the 15 days between March 25, 2024 and April 8, 2024 – three in Pujari Kanker (Bijapur) on April 6, 2024; six in Chipurbatti (Bijapur) on March 27, 2024; and 13 in Korcheli (Bijapur) on April 2-3, 2024.

Meanwhile, taking comprehensive action against the CPI-Maoist, on February 8, 2024, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) raided multiple locations across the four states of Telangana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala, in a case involving ‘Central Committee’ member from the Western Ghats Special Zonal Committee (WGSZC) Sanjay Deepak Rao, who was arrested from near the Malaysian Township in Kukatpally in Hyderabad on September 15, 2023. The NIA teams raided the premises of the accused and suspects at six locations: two in Hyderabad and one each in Thane, Chennai, Malappuram, and Palakkad. The agency conducted extensive searches, leading to the seizure of incriminating documents and books related to the proscribed CPI-Maoist outfit. Six mobiles with SIM cards and INR 137,210 in cash were also seized. The NIA, which took over the case (RC-01/2024/NIA/HYD) in January, found during investigations that Sanjay Deepak Rao was actively working for the banned Maoist organisation in the tri-junction area of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka. Under his direction, other frontline members of the CPI-Maoist were operating in the urban areas of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala, to promote the activities of the outfit.

The impact of sustained losses of cadre and leadership have drastically impacted Maoist capacities across the country. Nevertheless, residual capacities remain sufficient to mount occasional operations, particularly in the Bastar division.

The Maoists are, no doubt, a worried lot. In a desperate effort to restore their profile and activities, a June 29, 2024, media report revealed that CPI-Maoist ‘commanders’ had started using innocent villagers, coercing them to participate in their activities. The Maoist ‘commanders’ were trapping rural labourers and small businessmen in their net by giving INR 30,000 to 40,000 to each labourer to participate in attacks and to collect ‘levy’ (extortion money) on their behalf. This plan was hatched by top Maoist ‘commanders’, including Nitesh Yadav, Sanjay Yadav, Sunil Vivek and Sita Rajwar. Noting this disturbing trend, Palamu Superintendent of Police (SP) Rishma Rameshan noted,

The Maoists are luring innocent villagers and other people. Those who are getting lured do not know what incident they are getting involved in and what action can be taken against them. The Maoists want to take advantage of the helplessness of the villagers. The police are running a campaign against the Maoists and are also contacting the villagers one by one. The police are constantly appealing in the rural areas that people should not get lured by the Naxalites. The police have received information about the network of the Maoists, against which action is being taken.

In an earlier report on February 10, 2024, the CPI-Maoists earmarked ‘nine zones’ across India to expand LWE ideology, mobilize masses, and trigger internal disturbances to topple the government. A classified document on Maoist infiltration of urban areas underlines a ‘long-term’ vision of the Maoists to use cities as launchpads to wage a camouflaged war against the ruling establishment. While expanding their ‘urban network’, Maoists are now trying to tap former arrested cadres and surrendered guerrillas to gain insights into the functioning of intelligence agencies, interrogation techniques of SFs, SF unit strengths, hierarchies, and workstations. The zones outlined across India have been identified as the Ahmedabad-Pune corridor, Delhi region, Bengaluru, Chennai, Coimbatore-Erode belt, Hyderabad, Kolkata, industrial cities of central India, and cities of the Gangetic plain. The four top cities of India on their radar are the industrialized cities of Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Pune, and Surat, which are part of the ‘Ahmedabad-Pune corridor’. The neighbouring cities of Amravati and Gondia are also included in zones of the ‘industrial cities of ‘Central India’ where Maoists plan to focus on employee unions and associations for infiltration and agitation.

It is pertinent to note here that the ‘classified document’ referred to above is nothing new, but rather derives from the Maoist Document, Urban Perspective: Our Work in Urban Areas, first circulated in 2004 by the Central Committee (P) CPI-Maoist. Discussing in detail the ‘urban network’, indeed, the Maoist Documents on Urban Perspective: Our Work in Urban Areas, in Section 2.1 Urbanisation Pattern, thus identifies the urban-industrial centres on which the Maoist strategy is to focus:

The…inequalities are being encouraged by the policies of the government. In the earlier period under industrial licensing there were some small attempts at bringing about balanced industrial development and this led to some projects being set up in relatively backward areas like the central India minerals belt. Now under the liberalisation policies investment is not regulated and goes to the areas promising the greatest profits. Thus, the main investment is centred in and around a few areas of growing urban concentration. The main such areas are: – a) Ahmedabad-Pune Corridor, b) Delhi Region, c) Bangalore, d) Chennai, e) Coimbatore-Erode Belt, f) Hyderabad, g) Kolkata, h) Industrial Cities of Central India, and i) Cities of the Gangetic Plain.

Maoist networks across the country have weakened, with surviving leaders and cadres struggling to keep the movement afloat. There is an urgent need to build the necessary capacities to sustain, indeed, amplify pressure at this stage, and challenge all possible attempts at revival, and to fill the present vacuum created in the erstwhile areas of Maoist ‘disruptive dominance’ with effective programmes of governance and public services.

• Deepak Kumar Nayak
  Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management