Bhubaneswar, July 5: The top Maoist leaders in Orissa are facing flak from the cadres. The latest to launch a broadside at the leadership is Arati Patra alias Rita who surrendered in Gajpati on Monday.
The 20-year-old rebel, who had been involved in several attacks on police and security forces, accused CPI (Maoist) state organising secretary Sabyasachi Panda of subjecting her to physical and mental torture. She has also pointed accusing fingers at an activist who is considered close to the Maoists.
This, incidentally, is not the first time that such allegations have been made by a woman Maoist in Orissa. Earlier this year, five women rebels, all below 17, surrendered in Keonjhar district after accusing their male colleagues of exploiting them in jungle camps.
The girls, who had been members of Kalinga Nagar division of the banned CPI (Maoist), decided to give up arms disillusioned with the Maoist ideology and harassment by their male cadres in the camps. The leadership also prevented them from visiting their families.
The tribal-dominated Keonjhar-Jajpur belt has turned into the happy hunting ground for the Maoists, who have been recruiting tribal girls taking advantage of their poverty. Sources said that almost 30 per cent of the Maoists operating in the area were women.
The mineral-rich belt, which is emerging as an industrial hub, has been witnessing intensified Maoist activities with rebels trying hard to win over the tribals displaced by the mining and industrial projects. The police, too, have stepped up their drive against the rebels with one of their deputy commanders being gunned down in Keonjhar forests on Saturday.
The senior police officers said the slain Maoist had been the second-in-command of the Kalinga Nagar division of the CPI (Maoist), which controlled rebel operations in Jajpur and Keonjhar districts. Before that, in February, the Keonjhar police arrested four Maoists, including Bipin Purty, a key linkman of Panda.
Sources said while the forests in the area provided the Maoists ideal hideouts, they were also in regular touch with their counterparts in Jharkhand and Bengal across the border. What worries the police is the rebels’ bid to extend their area of operation by making occasional forays into Keonjhar district. One of their prime targets in Keonjhar had been the Similipal national park, where they attacked guest houses and forest beat houses about two years ago forcing the authorities to close it to general public for several months. Though things have improved since then, there is no denying the threat perception.
Karaili carnage
Three days after the Karaili massacre in Bihar, Munger police appeared busy covering up its failure to prevent the carnage. The deputy inspector-general, Munger range, Anil Kishor Yadav, in his letter to P. Kannan, superintendent of police, Munger, has sought an explanation as to why the police force, earlier deputed at the village, was shifted to Bangalwa after March 16.
A source in the Munger police blamed people with vested interests behind the Karaili massacre. Sources also said the finger of doubt is being pointed at a former district superintendent of police, M. Sunil Naik, for “encouraging” some criminals to cut down rebels in the Naxalite-hit Dharhara block in Munger district.
