Pankaj Singh
The letter recovered by the security forces from the deceased Naxalite Santosh Markam exposed the true intentions of Naxalites, who claims that they are fighting for the poor.
Dantewada Police have recovered a letter from the clothes of the deceased Naxalite Santosh Markam. After getting this letter translated from Gondi to Hindi, some shocking revelation has come to the fore. This letter has been written by Gangi, a member of Malangir Area committee who carries a reward of Rs five lakhs.
In this letter, Naxalite Gangi asked Santosh to charge ten thousand rupees for each villager who is a traitor. Gangi has also directed Santosh to punish the villagers who refuse to pay the extortion. Such villagers have been asked to give harsh punishment in the "Jan Adalat".
This revelation in the letter has once again exposed the true face of Red terrorism. Though the Maoists have always claimed themselves to be the benefactor of tribal groups, they often extort villagers by intimidating them.
About Santosh Marakam
A member of the Malangir Area Committee, Markam was wanted in over two dozen cases and was carrying a reward of Rs 5 lakh. After receiving a tip-off about some hardcore Naxalite presence in the pordem forest area of the Sukma Dantewada border. The DRG team of Sukma and Dantewada launched a search operation to nab him on Sunday 27th of June. After the encounter that lasted for about an hour, the security forces recovered his body, along with a pistol.
However, as soon as word of his death came out, several locals and relatives staged a dharna, calling him innocent, and refusing to receive his remains for a week. Later, on the persuasion of the administration, they returned with the dead body.
Significantly, Markam was a dreaded Naxal, who was also the mastermind of the Nilawaya attack. Along with this, he was also accused of extortion from villagers and murder of many villagers in "Jan – Adalat".
Numbers augmenting under "Lone Varatu"
In another development, three Naxalites have surrendered before the police as part of the "Lone Varatu" Campaign.
Maoists who surrendered in the Kirandul police station area of Dantewada have been identified as Militia members Joga Mandavi and Bhima Mandavi. SSP Abhishek Pallav said that the surrender of Naxalites is augmenting briskly under the Lone Varatu campaign. Both the surrendered Naxalites were wanted in different cases, added Dantewada SSP.
Another Maoist who surrendered in Jagdalpur has been identified as Rajesh, a member of the Kanger Area Committee.
In another similar incident, two women Naxalites have surrendered in the Narayanpur district. Both the women Naxalites were members of the "Janmilitia" for years together. Narayanpur SSP U.Uday said that both the Naxalites have surrendered after getting fed up with the Maoist ideology. Both of them were very emotional after meeting their parents, informed ASP Chandrakar. Surrendered Naxalites have been identified as Batti Usendi and Namani Usendi. Both were active in the Abujhmad area of Narayanpur.
It should be noted that "Lone Varatu" (the government's appeal to the tribal youth to leave the path of violence and return to the mainstream) has had a deep impact on the tribal youth of Dandakaranya, under which till now about 400 former Naxalites have surrendered.
