In the fight against Left-wing extremism, the proverbial slip between the cup and the lip has come to haunt the BJP-ruled government right before the Assembly elections.
Three back-to-back rebel incidents in Latehar, Palamau and Lohardaga districts on Friday and Saturday ahead of the first phase of Assembly election have put the bosses of Jharkhand police, the state government and the Election Commission of India (ECI) in a tight spot.
Amid tall claims of the BJP-led Raghubar Das government and state police over years that Naxalism has nearly been wiped out of Jharkhand, the three incidents are a grim reminder that the powers-that-be, perhaps, had spoken too soon.
On Friday night, rebels of CPI(Maoist) in Latehar ambushed a patrol van to kill an ASI-ranked official and three Home Guard jawans. On Saturday night, rebels shot dead a BJP supporter and a fruit-seller in Palamau and torched earthmovers in Lohardaga.
The events from Friday onwards have once again proved that rebels attack at strategic moments for maximum impact, especially before polls. The call for vote boycott is a weapon used by rebels of all groups, the CPI(Maoist) and splinter organisations, as they wage their war against the state. Rebel violence before the polls, it has been observed, affects voter morale and turnout.
The Election Commission of India has appointed former IPS M.K. Das as the special police observer for Assembly poll. Bosses of Jharkhand Police are now under severe pressure to contain rebels till the election is over at least.
But the poll panel had been cautious from the start. On November 1, when chief election commissioner Sunil Arora had announced the election schedules for Jharkhand, he had explained the reasons behind the five phases. Nineteen out of 24 districts of Jharkhand, with 67 Assembly seats, are affected by Leftwing extremism. Of the 19 districts, the situation in 13 is worse.
“We are reworking our security strategy,” a senior IPS official told The Telegraph. “The Assembly polls will be peaceful. Rebels are fighting their last battle.”
Despite this optimism, the truth is more complex.
Rebel violence statistically is on the wane. In 2019, till September-end, Jharkhand police recorded 238 cases of Naxalite violence across the state. In 2018, the number was 358.
In the last five years security forces have pushed back rebels in their own strongholds — Burha Pahar however remains a challenge — and established 30 new police camps and pickets. Over the years, Jharkhand police has created a network of around 5,100 sleuths and informers and also roped in National Investigation Agency and Enforcement Directorate to investigate Naxalite cases.
Also, scores of rebels from the CPI(Maoist), PLFI, TSPC and JJMP squads were shot dead.
At the same time, security personnel have also shed blood.
Jharkhand has a surrender policy to encourage rebels to lay down arms and join the mainstream, which includes provisions of cash, land and livelihood. Over 100 rebels, including top ranking ones such as Kundan Pahan, Nakul Yadav have made use of it and surrendered under the policy, weakening the base of rebels. But police say there are still 196 top and mid-ranking rebels who have not yet surrendered. Names such as Prashant Bose, Misir Besra and Asim Mandal, active in Jharkhand, carry a reward of Rs 1 crore on their heads.
But there is a murky side to surrenders. When dreaded rebel Kundan Pahan — who has political ambitions —surrendered in 2017, then Ajsu Party’s Tamar MLA Vikas Munda sat on a fast, “outraged” over how Pahan, allegedly behind the murder of Vikas’s MLA father Ramesh Kumar Munda, got a “golden handshake” from the state.
This is not all. In 2016, JMM leader Hemant Soren demanded a CBI probe into the surrender of nine PLFI rebels, alleging most were villagers without a criminal past who had been made to stand in as rebels by police to shore up numbers and window-dress the state government’s rehabilitation policy.
Fake surrenders to make the police and the paramilitary look good have cropped up earlier too.
Former DGP D.K. Pandey was heading the state CRPF when it and the police allegedly orchestrated the surrender of fake rebels between 2010-12 in what is popularly known as the Digdarshan scam.
And on June 8, 2015, four months after Pandey was appointed state DGP, 12 people whom police claimed were members of the CPI(Maoist), were gunned down by a team comprising district police and the CRPF’s CoBRA battalion under Satbawra police station of Palamau. But except the dreaded rebel Dr Bomb, none had any Naxalite background. Jharkhand High Court transferred the case to CBI.
A senior intelligence official was dismissive of the former DGP, despite Pandey’s rapport with his political masters. “Pandey was the funniest police boss. He’d make tall claims that LWE in Jharkhand would be eliminated in three months, six months and so on. Those who make such claims should know this is no ordinary battle. Rebels have over the years indoctrinated people, made strong intelligence and organisational inroads,” he said.
Another senior policeman said stringent security without development did not help. “Rebels want areas to stay backward, youths to stay hungry. Build roads to connect villagers, set up schools and colleges in villages. Have you ever wondered why rebels target road and bridge constructions the most?”
Top cop back
Former deputy inspector-general of police (Palamau range) Vipul Shukla, who was transferred with promotion to Ranchi as IG (police headquarters) seven weeks ago, has been rushed back after Saturday's Maoist attack at Pipra Bazar in Hussainabad Assembly seat that killed two.
Plugging security loopholes is crucial ahead of PM Narendra Modi’s scheduled visit to Daltonganj on Monday.
