Wasting no time after the ban was imposed in Andhra Pradesh, Naxals launched an attack in Chhattisgarh early this month by triggering a landmine, which left at least 23 security personnel dead. This blast, near Padeda village in Dantewada district, was powerful enough to awaken the State government from deep slumber and complacency. A ban on the Communist Party of India –Maoist (CPI-Maoist), the perpetrator, and its front organizations followed after an emergency meeting of the Cabinet in the State capital, Raipur.
Of late, the Sambalpur district of Orissa has become a hotbed for Naxal activities. After a period of silence, the rebels have again managed to strike terror, and this time, they have attacked, killing civilians. Late last month, on May 27, the Maoists went on a rampage and killed three villagers and injured several others in the Burda village under Jujumura police station. Before this, Maoist activities were only confined to abductions followed by ransom.
During the mid-1990s, the Naxal Movement (Left Wing Extremism) spilt over to Orissa from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and the Jharkhand region. Now, the Naxal activities have enlarged to nine predominantly tribal districts, i.e. Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabarangapur, Rayagada, Gajapati and Ganjam abutting the Andhra Pradesh and Sundargarh, Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar districts adjacent to Jharkhand. While the above nine districts remain the Naxal stronghold, the movement has grown stronger in different parts of Sambalpur, Kalahandi, Bolangir, Phulbani, Deogarh, Jharsuguda and Anugul.
The growing influence of the newly formed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-M), the Naxal outfit, along Uttar Pradesh's (UP) eastern borders, and the rapidity with which they expand their organisation in the State is undoubtedly alarming. Naxals are looking to the State for fresh bases to build a formidable organization. The inaccessible hilly terrain and dense forests of the state provide perfect cover for the Naxalites, who use their maps to move around.
Even as the nine-day-long ceasefire called by Maoist extremists during the ‘Dashain’ festival ended on October 28, civil society groups urged the Maoists to continue the truce until December this year when an international Buddhist convention will be held in Lumbini in southern Nepal. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has refused to extend the ceasefire unilaterally. The government started the offensive immediately, but it stopped just before the truce. At least ten extremists were gunned down in separate encounters in the Taplejung and Siraha districts within 48 hours of the truce.