Telangana: 8 militia members of the outlawed CPI (Maoist) held

As many as eight militia members of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) hailing from Charla mandal of Bhadradri Kothagudem district of Telangana were nabbed by the Telangana police in a joint operation with the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on August 2.

As per the reports, a joint combing operation was launched by the personnel of the CRPF and Telangana police on August 2, where they arrested eight members of the Kanchalas Rasapalli Revolutionary People’s Committee (RPC) of the Pamed area of the proscribed CPI Maoist.

The said members of the RPC committee were arrested from the Tippapuram forest area under Maoist-affected Charla Mandal of the bordering district, informed ASP, Bhadrachalam, Paritosh Pankaj.

The arrested members were part of the group which planted a 12 Kg landmine between Golakunda and Chennapuram road in Charla mandal in July this year and were being hunted by the police in cases registered under the Explosive Act and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

The development occurred days after the Jharkhand police, in a combing operation, also apprehended Manoj Parahiya from the jungles of Chete Patsar on July 30 morning. Parahiya, a resident of Goreya Karam of Garhwa district, was associated with the banned Jharkhand Jan Mukti Parishad, a splinter group of the outlawed CPI Maoist.

As per the information received, Parahiya was also associated with the Tritiya Sammelan Prastuti Committee (TSPC), another banned Maoist splinter group of the CPI Maoist, and a reward of Rs 5 lakhs was already announced on him by the state police.

Maoist Martyred week

It is to be noted that the recent arrests were made during the ongoing Martyr Week, being annually celebrated by the Maoist commencing from July 28. Maoist during the week, the Maoist usually carry attacks on Government institutions and security camps, in view of the paramilitary forces and the respected police units of the insurgency-hit regions that have been put on the alert to avert any potential attack by the outlawed outfit.

Though large-scale offensive campaigns under the supervision of the Union home ministry backed up by the surrender schemes of the respective State Governments and development works in the insurgency-hit regions, have inspired a sharp decline in the Maoist insurgency in the past few years where a large number of erstwhile cadres have joined the mainstream by shunning the path of violence.

The combined efforts put up by the union government on the security and development front have led to a sharp decline in the incidents of violence and casualties, as a total of 98 security personnel and civilians got killed pertaining to the Maoist violence in the year 2022 compared to 1005 in the peak year of Maoist insurgency in 2010.

Additionally, the incidents of violence pertaining to the Maoist groups have also witnessed a sharp decline as only 413 such incidents of violence were reported in the year 2022 as compared to 509 in 2021, 665 in 2020, 670 in 2019 and 833 such incidents reported in 2018.