Amid tall claims of containing Left Wing Extremism (LWE), the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) continues to wreak havoc in the Maoist-affected regions of Chhattisgarh and adjoining bordering regions. In the latest development, the Maoist terrorists have once again set ablaze a mobile tower in the insurgency-hit Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh on Tuesday, November 28.
According to the reports, cadres of the banned Maoist outfit torched a Jio mobile tower in Harrakodar village between Narayanpur and Barsur of Dantewada. It’s been learned that the Maoists also dropped leaflets before fleeing the spot. The incident occurred days after the Maoists set ablaze as many as 14 vehicles in an asphalt plant under Bhansi police station limits of Dantewada on Sunday, November 26
In the leaflet dropped on the spot, the extremists have urged the masses to celebrate the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA), week between December 2-8, 2023. The Ultras in the leaflet have also appealed to the masses to intensify the guerilla and so-called class struggle. The leaflet recovered from the spot was dropped by the Purvi Bastar Division Committee of the banned CPI (Maoist).
People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army
It is to be noted that the PLGA is the armed wing of the outlawed CPI Maoist, which came into existence in the year 2000 around 4 years before the merger of People’s War Group (PWG) and the Maoist Communist Centre of India to form CPI Maoist. Considered one of the most dreaded terrorist outfits in the world, the PLGA draws its inspiration from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and aims to convert itself into the same after the success of the proposed revolution.
It is believed that at its zenith, the guerilla armed wing of the CPI had a capacity of around 12,000 armed cadres, which has been gradually reduced in recent years. The guerilla army consists mainly of three forces, categorised as the main force, the secondary force and the base force. Further, the PLGA composition includes companies, platoons, Special Action Teams (SAT) i.e the assassination squads, and intelligence units.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Maoist armed wing is directly responsible for the attacks, brutal killings and assassinations of the security forces, civilians, and political representatives carried out by the Ultras in the last 20 years. The force consists of male and female counterparts, which compose more than half of its strength, mostly recruited from the insurgency-hit remote regions of the country.
Current state of insurgency
It should be noted that, under the supervision of the Central Government, the security forces are conducting wide-scale operations against the extremists across several states hit by the left-wing insurgency. These continuous operations in recent years have ultimately led the Maoists to retreat from their erstwhile thresholds, paving the way for the forces to establish more forward operating bases in the areas once considered Maoist bastions.
Notably, more than two dozen FOBs have already been set up in the Maoist-affected region of the country in the last two years alone, leading to the collapse of the Maoist organisational structure in the surrounding villages; it further also damaged the intel network and ration supplies of the Ultras as the presence of the forces in the vicinity has made it difficult to the Maoists to instill fear in the villagers.
However, despite that the efforts of the security forces met with commendable success in states like Bihar, Jharkhand, and Odisha in recent years. The situation on ground has remained hostile in states like Chhattisgarh and its adjoining regions, where a surge in violence against civilians by the Ultras has been noted in recent times.
