Maoist in Narayanpur of Chhattisgarh has put up banners and distributed pamphlets threatening the local village heads of Besmeta village for dire consequences if they opted to continue supporting development work in the region.
As per the information received, the banner has been hung up near the Gaytapara village under Orchha police station limits in which the local area committee of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) have warned the local representatives to chop off their hands and feet if they continue to support the construction work of a proposed mine in the area.
In the banner by the Gaytapara area committee of the outlawed CPI Maoist, the ultras have alleged the Sarpanch and the Upa Sarpanch of Besmeta village for supporting the proposed mine. The Maoist have further claimed that the opening of the mine in the area will have a devastating effect on the environment, for which both the village heads will be held accountable.
The banner read that ‘construction work for a dam is also in progress, which should be stopped immediately. We warn the village heads to stop all these works immediately; otherwise, their hands and feet will be chopped off in the Jan Adalat (Kangaroo Court of the Maoist).
After learning about the banner, it’s been learnt that the village heads have approached the police and sought protection for their safety. It is to be noted that this is not the first time that the Maoist have put up a banner threatening the local village heads, and earlier, a number of political representatives had already been killed by the ultras for supporting development works in the tribal-dominated region.
Let us tell you that the Maoist, now confined to a much smaller territory than before, are finding it tough to counter the growing influence of the security forces and development works in the state, which was once considered a bastion of the Left Wing Extremists.
As a result, the ultras have been targeting innocent civilians and political representatives out of frustration lately; the change in the strategy can better be assessed by the fact that around one dozen civilians, including three functionaries of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have been killed by the Maoist in the last two years alone.
Security experts are of the opinion that the targeted killings of civilians in the Maoist thresholds describe nothing but the frustration and helplessness of the Maoists as they are no longer a substantial force which can hold the ground in front of the advancing forces.
Officials with an experience in these regions are also of the opinion that the Maoists are deliberately going after those youths and leaders who have a leaning towards education, development and democratic values, as there is a growing sense of fear among the ultras that more educated youths and development work can unmask the hidden anti-people face of theirs.
