Maoists and cops techwarfare : Naxals has LMGs

By U Sudhakar Reddy
The technological war between the CPI Maoists and State police is heating up. To counter the technological wing of CPI Maoists which have been operating almost for a decade State police have recently set up a tech wing headed by a Superintendent of Police.
The tech wing part of Special Intelligence Branch mainly aims at collection of information and countering the Naxal technology by using latest communication tapping equipment and sniffer software to track e-mails.
The tech wing of SIB is also involved in analysing the communication equipment recovered from the Maoist dumps.
The tech wing of Maoists have developed rocket launcher technology indigenously and also played crucial in setting up the arms making factory in Dandakaranya of Chattisgarh.
 A senior official of State Police Headquarters said ,"we have Superintendents of Police to gather intelligence from each region. Like Maoists have a Special Zonal Committee for Andhra Orissa Border and we have two separate Superintendents of Police known as SP(AOB) who exclusively deals with the intelligence gathering from AOB. As well as SPs for Nallamala-Rayalaseema and for Telangana. So similarly we have a tech wing headed by an SP. We are also getting ready for anticipated cyberwar in future with the Maoists,"
Maoists have the latest weapons in their armoury including the Universal Machine Guns sources said.
 "They have looted several of the modern sophisticated weapons in Orissa incidents. They have now LMG(Light Machine Guns) as well as Medium Machine Guns and UMGs.
 Th firepower of Maoists is on par with the police. They are using the latest computers, laptops and electronic gadgets," said the senior police official.
The document of Maoists also speaks about carrying the cyberwarfare and intercepting and hacking the communication of police. The document says youth with IT knowledge and hacking abilities have to be recruited into the part. Tech Madhu alias Sreenivas Reddy who was heading the technical wing of Maoists gave up the arms earlier. The technological wing of Maoists keep themselves updated with the
latest warfare all over the world. In Nayagarh raids in Orissa in 2008 Naxals made away with 1100 weapons including AK- 47s, INSAS and SLRs and other sophisticated equipment and one lakh bullets.
In similar raids on Koraput town in February 2004, more than 525 weapons were snatch The police official said ,"they have both crude made in their factories and latest weapons looted from security forces. Maoists have developed crude rocket launchers.

Maoists influence in and around Delhi

By U Sudhakar Reddy
Maoist activities in and around Delhi is now a big concern for the anti naxal agencies. Intelligence officials found that the recent violent agitations of sanitation workers in Delhi has Maoist influence. At least 30 leaders of CPI Maoists were arrested in and around Delhi in the past one and half year.
According to sources in the State intelligence department three Central Committee members and two state committee members and other naxal leaders were arrested in Delhi.
Mr Kobad Gandhi, Gopal Mishra in charge of Delhi State Committee, Dr Pankaj of Central Committee along with 13 other Underground naxals were among those arrested.
A senior police official of State police headquarters said ,"they are not only using Delhi as shelter zone but stepped up their activities. This poses serious threat to VIP security. We are also suspecting the naxal
hand in the recent violent agitations. Gopal Mishra was working under the guise of trade union leader,"
Delhi is part of North Regional Bureau of CPI Maoists. The arrested leaders include Balraj alias Arvind is a member of the Central Committee and in-charge of the North Regional Bureau and  Banshidhar alias Chintan Da of Central Committee.
The North Regional Bureau f the Maoists oversees the revolutionary movement in Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and three Union Territory areas.
In July first week 12 policemen including two Station House officer were injured and 30 vehicles damaged when safai karamcharis resorted to violence at Najafgarh demanding permanent jobs and payment of
wages. The incident took place in the premises of Municipal Corporation of Delhi.
"the mob was so violent they went on rampage. We are suspecting that the motivating factors could be left wing extremist elements. They beat the cops black and blue. We have specific inputs that the Maoist have
stepped up their activities in and around Delhi as part of strengthening their urban squads," said a police official.

Telugu Dipak tells cops that party unhappy with Kishenji

U Sudhakar Reddy

Top Maoist Telugu Dipak, alias Venakteswara Reddy, who was arrested by the West Bengal police, has told them that the CPI (Maoist) central committee is unhappy with Kishenji alias Mallojula Koteswara Rao, over the publicity campaign he is running. Dipak, who was a key aide of Kishenji, also developed differences with him. The Greyhounds inspector general of police, Mr Anjani Kumar, visited West Bengal and returned to the city after questioning Telugu Dipak. Sources said that Kishenji’s announced policy decision without proper consultations with the CPI (Maoist) central committee which has irked other top Maoists.A senior official said, “Kishenji is neither a spokesperson nor secretary of the central committee. He was always on the TV screens and giving interviews to the print media. This has irked other top Maoists as Kishanji is trying to impose his personal decisions on the party.”The Greyhounds IG, Mr Anjani Kumar, visited the West Bengal CID office and explained the tactics of guerrilla warfare to the police officials involved in anti-Naxal operations in Bengal.He had presented videos of Greyhounds operations and shared experiences in fighting Naxals with officers from Maoist infested areas like West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia.As Telugu Dipak is also wanted in several cases in Andhra Pradesh, Mr Kumar also spoke to the officers who interrogated him, and himself interrogated Dipak. A team of Special Intelligence Branch also questioned Telugu Dipak

Dantewada massacre: Top Maoists Tirupati and Sudarshan lead attack

By U Sudhakar Reddy

Two top Maoists from Andhra Pradesh, Katakam Sudarshan and Tipparti Tirupati, led the biggest-ever attack carried out by Naxals in the country in Chhattisgarh on Tuesday.
Though there are reports that around 1,000 Maoists took part in the attack, senior police officers of the state who are familiar with Naxal operations say that only around 300 attackers were present. It is believed that there are around 3,000 armed Maoists in Chhattisgarh.
Source said at least three “military companies” of the CPI Maoist People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army united for the operation.
“The central regional military command led by Tirupati executed the attack under the guidance of the political wing of the central regional bureau led by Sudarshan,” said a senior police officer.
“The local dalams of the Dandakarnaya Special Zonal Committee may also have assisted them. The central regional bureau covers parts of AP, Chhattsigarh and Orissa.”
Sudharshan, 53, hails from Bellampally in Adilabad and carries a reward of Rs 12 lakhs on his head. He and Tirupati, 46, who are also members of the central committee, are wanted in several cases, including the attack on former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.
The DKSZC is dominated by Telugu-speaking Maoists. In all, 15 out of 20 members of the committee are from Karimnagar, Warangal and other parts of AP.
Kadari Satyanarayana Reddy, alias Kosa, of Gopalarapalli in Karimnagar, is the secretary of the DKSZC. Maoist Muppala Lakshmana Rao, alias Krishna Kumari (Ganapati’s wife), is district committee secretary of South Bastar.
(Graph COURTESY OUTLOOK INDIA)

Naxals 'retired hurt' in AP, looking for comeback

U Sudhakar Reddy

Naxals, who once thrived in Andhra Pradesh, are today fighting for their survival in the state. Although Maoists from AP play a major role in the central committee of Maoists, as well as in the committees that rule the red bastions, including Dandakaranya, they have become insignificant within the state. While 2008 saw 96 incidents of violence by Naxals in Andhra , the following year this number fell to 56. Their downfall began in 2004 after the Maoist Communist Centre and People’s War merged to form the CPI Maoists and held talks with the government, giving the police a peek at the latest faces of the extremist forces. Later encounter killings, heavily paid informants, covert operations, rewards to those of them who opted to surrender, neu- tralising of frontal organisations and sym- pathisers, development acitivities in their territories and better intelligence gathering by the AP special intelligence branch that deals exclusively with Naxals, began taking a toll on their numbers.
The elite commando force, the Grey- hounds have had a lot to do with the suc- cesses of the police, such as in the elimina- tion of top Maoists leaders like Patel Sud- hakar Reddy. But the scene is very different on the national level as a majority of the members of the Maoist central committee, including its general secretary, Mupalla Lakshman Rao (alias Ganapathy), are from AP. Also, of the 30 or so central committee members, around a dozen are from AP.
They include Ramakrishna, Cherukuri Raj Kumar, Mallaojula Venugopal, Pulluri Prasada Rao, Modem Balakrishna, J. Narasimha Reddy (alias Jampanna), Mallo- jula Koteswara Rao alias Kishenji, Varanasi Subrahmanyam, Satyanrayana Reddy (alias Kosa), and Chalapati.
The central committee that looks after political affairs, and the central military commission that takes care of military affairs, are both dominated by Telugu- speaking Maoists. The Maoist central mili- tary commission functions under the direc- tions of the central chief, Ganapati. Central military commission in-charge, Nambala Keshava Rao (alias Basavaraj) and others.

Maoists to strike big: PLGA company moves to AOB from Chattisgarh

By U Sudhakar Reddy

Police suspect that a major attack by the Maoists is on the cards with a company of the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army reaching the Andhra-Orissa Border from Dandakaranya and joining another company already stationed there.
There are around 70 armed Maoists in the new company and sleuths feel they may be planning a big attack like the one on the Nalco bauxite mine.
"The threat is more to Orissa than for us but we are on high alert," said the Vizianagaram superintendent of police, Mr Y. Gangadhar. "We have information that a platoon has moved to the area and is planning a major attack."
In April, around 200 naxals attacked Nalco Bauxite mine in Orissa's Koraput district. It took a nine-hour gun battle to secure the mine and eight Central Industrial Security Force personnel and four Maoists were killed in the operation.Maoists raided the mine to loot weapons.
"Usually when Maoist platoons migrate from area to another we can anticipate a major attack," said a police source." There are around 150 activists and they will have cover of local militia also.
Intelligence sources said that AOB special zonal committee secretary, Mr M.Balakrishna, and other top leaders were suspected to be planning a major strike under the guidance of Central Military Commission.
"But the AP police knows most of the Maoist tactics so they will not be falling prey to them," said a senior cop.The police believes that at least 400 Maoists of Andhra Pradesh are still underground.
A platoon of 30 armed Maoists from both AP and Chhattisgarh, lead by divisional secretary Vepa Narayana alias Haribhushan, is operating in the Karimnagar-Khammam Warangal belt and two platoons from Chhattisgarh and Orissa are active in Visakhapatnam and East Godavari districts.

Maoist supreme commander Ganapathi looks like this

By U Sudhakar Reddy

The CPI Maoist supreme commander, Ganapati, alias Mupalla Lakshmana Rao, who has been evading cops for almost three decades appeared on You Tube and on TVs.
The video recording of his speech in the Unity Congress (the ninth Congress of the CPI Maoists) held in 2007 January-February in the forests of Bhimbund in the borders of Bihar and Jharkhand was “leaked” and uploaded on the video site.
Special intelligence branch sleuths and balladeer Gaddar have identified that it is Ganapati on the video. It is suspected that he is now based in Dandakaranya.
While police say Maoist leaders may have leaked the video clipping, there are reports it was the intelligence officials who leaked it after getting hold of the clipping from arrested Maoist leader Kobad Gandhy. An intelligence official said the police got the photograph two years ago.
“The video clipping is also with us,” he said. “No doubt it is Ganapati. He looks like a soft-spoken schoolteacher and has turned 60.” Ganapati hails from Karimnagar district and was carrying a reward of Rs 12 lakh on his head. He is a science graduate and succeeded People’s War founder Kondapalli Seetharamaiah as general secretary in 1991.