With the government unleashing 65,000 personnel for coordinated operations against Maoists in four states, West Bengal has become the new battleground between security forces and the red brigade.
After months of preparation, the government launched joint operations with the paramilitary and state police in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa last December. In the past two months, security forces have killed 15 Maoists in West Bengal alone, which is second only to Chhattisgarh, where paramilitary forces killed 38.
Earlier, Maoists were active in Jharkhand and Orissa, which were hotbeds of anti-government action, apart from Chhattisgarh. Now, following the coordinated action by paramilitary forces, security experts indicated that the Maoists are trying to open fronts in other states.
“The recent attacks on police in West Bengal and the beheading of policemen in Bihar are signs of desperation, to do something sensational. They (Maoists) were flying high but we are trying to bring them back to ground. Some Maoists may have fled to West Bengal because of the action in other states,” a senior paramilitary officer said.
In 2009, while Chhattisgarh registered the highest casualties among Maoist-affected states — 345 — the second highest was Jharkhand with 217. But this year, the figures till March 2 show a significant shift in left wing extremism. West Bengal has recorded 61 casualties, against Chhattisgarh’s 48. Jharkhand has recorded 19 deaths of civilians, security forces and Maoists.
“Operation Green Hunt has three aims: To dismantle Maoist camps, to identify ambush points and to carry out awareness programmes among people. All three are proving to be very effective,” Vishwa Ranjan, director general of police, Chhattisgarh, said.
“With Operation Green Hunt, there has been a 78% drop in casualties in the past six months, compared to the six months before,” Ranjan added.
Operation Green Hunt is a state police operation and is different from the joint operation launched by the Centre.
The situation in West Bengal can also be gauged from the fact that in the year-long efforts, the state has arrested over 600 Maoists, around 270 of them from Lalgarh itself. Twenty kg of explosives, gelatin sticks, grenades and 34 unexploded improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which have become the most used weapon of the Maoists, have been seized too.
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