The assassination of JMM MP Sunil Mahto is a precursor to “more deadly killings of VIPs and VVIPs, says a top counter terrorism expert.
RAIPUR: The assassination of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) MP Sunil Mahto in Jamshedpur is a precursor to “more deadly killings of VIPs and VVIPs” with Maoists making “tactical adjustments in war policy,” says a top counter terrorism expert.
“Maoists have changed their war tactics. They will now target more and more senior politicians and officials. This was decided in the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) 9th Congress held in late February in the forests near Chhattisgarh-Andhra Pradesh border,” said BK Ponwar, director of the Counter Terrorism & Jungle Warfare College (CTJWC) in Bastar.
He said over 100 frontline Maoist leaders, including some key foreign delegates, attended the congress and gave final touches for “taking the battle to a new height.” “Rather than killing small officials and leaders, they will now net the big fishes to get global attention. We have intelligence inputs that Maoists have decided to make tactical adjustments in their decade-old armed struggle,” Ponwar told IANS.
Sunil Mahto, his three bodyguards and a JMM worker were killed on Sunday in a village in Jamshedpur while watching a football match.
According to Ponwar, who was appointed in 2005 to lead the CTJWC set up in Bastar region’s Kanker district to make police personnel experts in guerrilla warfare, politicians have always been soft targets as “they have to visit interior regions.”
“The only way to deal with rebels is to destroy their military arms and completely dismantle their terror network - otherwise you can’t control them,” the guerrilla warfare expert warned.
Chhattisgarh Home Minister Ramvichar Netam also cautioned politicians in the state, one of the worst affected by Maoist violence, to visit forested areas only with proper security cover. They should inform local police well in advance and act on their security-related suggestions, he said.
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