Bengal to Bihar: how states handled Maoists

According to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), from a peak of over 200 districts being affected by Maoist violence within the mid-2000s, the numbers are down to only 90, with the worst-affected districts solely 30. While Chhattisgarh, and to an extent Jharkhand, proceed to wrestle within the battle towards Maoists, different states, other than Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, have managed to limit Naxal exercise.
WEST BENGAL
The cradle of the Naxal motion first noticed Maoist insurrection in 1967, however it was rapidly put down. The phenomenon raised its head once more within the Nineteen Nineties. By the 2000s, Maoists had affect in 18 districts of the state.
With the ultras concentrating on CPM cadres, the party-led state authorities geared up the police and arrange a particular counter-Maoist pressure referred to as Straco.
“The West Bengal Police used phone interception massively to gather intelligence on Maoist activity. That the CPM had robust network in villages came in handy. By the late 2000s, police had infiltrated almost every dalam of the CPI (Maoist) in Bengal,” stated a West Bengal cadre police officer.

When Mamata Banerjee got here to energy, she started luring rebels to the mainstream and lots of employees even joined the TMC. Police dealt a decisive blow by killing high Maoist chief Kishenji in 2011.
From the height of 2010, when the state noticed 341 incidents and 252 deaths, the state has introduced down violence to zero in 2014.
ODISHA
Around the mid-Nineteen Nineties, the Maoist downside within the state peaked, impacting 22 of 30 districts, even taking over the type of a tribal motion towards the federal government.
In 2008, Maoists raided the Nayagarh armoury in Koraput and looted 1,200 weapons, together with 400 INSAS rifles and 20 AK-47s, other than killing 15 policemen. The identical yr, 37 Greyhounds commandos had been killed in an ambush whereas approaching the “cut-off area” of Malkangiri in a ship.
The state responded by elevating the Special Operations Group that hunted down Maoist leaders at the same time as tribals had been recruited as SPOs to generate intelligence. The authorities rolled out a give up coverage and commenced distributing land pattas amongst tribals to win them over.

This was coupled with infrastructure growth within the backward areas that helped safety forces mount fast assaults. A few years in the past, the Gurupriyo bridge was accomplished, connecting the “cut-off area” for the primary time with remainder of Odisha.
From the height of 101 casualties in 2008, Odisha had introduced down violence considerably to 9 deaths in 2020.
MAHARASHTRA
Maharashtra, which noticed Maoist bother within the early ’90s in its Vidarbha districts of Gondia, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli, was fast to grasp the menace. It not solely raised a C60 workforce, recruiting native tribals, but in addition elevated the energy of police and began constructing roads within the area. Over the final decade, the state has acquired over 500 Maoists to give up and in 2020, there have been simply 30 incidents, with eight deaths.

BIHAR
Bihar, the place Maoists as soon as held sway in all the south-western half, other than pockets within the northern areas bordering Nepal, has gained vital floor towards Maoists in recent times. While the Maoist defeat in Bihar was partly of their very own making, as dalams battled caste bias, the Nitish Kumar authorities’s welfare schemes additionally helped.

Today, the Maoist maintain is restricted to Gaya and neighbouring districts. In 2020, the state recorded 26 incidents, with eight civilian deaths.