On November 24, 2022, Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres assassinated a 48-year-old man named Lalbati Majhi in Panchakul village within the Sadar Police Station limits in Bhawanipatna, Kalahandi District. According to reports, while Lalbati was sleeping in his house, he was kidnapped and killed by Maoists near Katlang village. Some posters were left behind at the site, claiming that Lalbati was punished because he worked as a ‘Police informer.’ They also threatened others in the area who were acting as Police informers with punishment.
On October 24, 2022, CPI-Maoist cadres in Kandhamal District assassinated a youth, Nilakantha Mallick of Tikarpaju village under Baliguda Police limits, on suspicion of being a police informant. The Maoists left posters claiming responsibility and warning ten village leaders of similar consequences if they informed the police about Naxalite [Left Wing Extremist] activities.
On February 15, 2022, CPI-Maoist cadres allegedly killed a man named Kapila Majhi by slitting his throat because they suspected him of being a ‘Police informer’ in the Kandhamal District. Majhi was kidnapped from his home by at least ten armed Maoists late on February 14, and his body, with his throat slit, was discovered the next morning. The Maoists also left some posters nearby.
On February 15, 2022, CPI-Maoist cadres allegedly slit the throat of a man named Kapila Majhi in the Kandhamal District because they suspected him of being a ‘Police informer.’ Majhi was kidnapped from his home by a group of at least ten armed Maoists late on February 14, and his body, with his throat slit, was discovered the next morning. Maoist posters were also found near his body.
According to the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), at least five civilians have been killed in the CPI-Maoist’s ‘Kandhamal-Kalahandi-Boudh-Nayagarh (KKBN) division’ this year. Two civilians were killed in the ‘KKBN Division’ during the corresponding period in 2021. During the remainder of 2021, no civilian fatalities were reported.
As the data suggests, civilian fatalities in 2022, with almost a month to go, are the highest in a year since 2019, when there were an equal number of civilian fatalities. Civilian fatalities in the region have risen for the second consecutive year.
The increase in civilian killings and the associated threat by Maoists to the people of the region point to a Maoist pushback in the ‘KKBN division’ covering the Odisha districts of Kandhamal, Kalahandi, Boudh, and Nayagarh, at a time when they have lost influence in their former areas of dominance across India.
In fact, overall Maoist activity has increased in recent years. The ‘KKBN Division’ recorded 18 Maoist-related incidents in 2022, compared to 14 in 2021, according to the SATP database. Most recently, on October 24, 2022, armed CPI-Maoist cadres allegedly set fire to vehicles and other road construction equipment in Jargi village, about 85 kilometres from Phulbani, under the Sudra Gram Panchayat (village level local self-Government institution) in Kandhamal District. According to the police, 20 to 25 Maoists, including women cadres, set fire to two tractors, two earth movers, and other road construction equipment.
The ‘KKBN division’ covers an area of 22,562 square kilometers, has a forest cover of 11,604 square kilometres (about 51.43 percent of the total area), and is surrounded by Maoist-affected districts in Odisha and Chhattisgarh, providing the extremists with decisive tactical advantages. The ‘KKBN division’ borders Gajapati, Koraput, Nabarangpur, and Rayagada in the south; Angul, Bolangir, and Subarnapur in the north; Cuttack, Ganjam, and Khordha in the east; and Nuapada in Chhattisgarh State in the west.
Since February 15, 2008, when the ‘division’ recorded its first Maoist-linked fatality, the ‘division’ has been responsible for 112 deaths, including 50 civilians, 23 Security Force (SF) personnel, and 39 Maoists. Odisha has recorded a total of 799 fatalities between February 15, 2008 and December 4, 2022. The ‘KKBN division’ alone accounted for 14.01 percent of total Maoist-linked fatalities in the state, with 112 deaths.
Taking serious note of the security situation in two districts of the ‘KKBN division,’ Kandhamal and Kalahandi, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) included them on the list of ’25 Most Affected Districts’ from eight States across India on June 19, 2021. Furthermore, the Kandhamal and Kalahandi districts are among the 70 Naxalite-affected districts in ten Indian states that are covered by the Centre’s Security Related Expenditure (SRE) scheme, which funds targeted operations against LWE insurgents.
Though the last SF fatality in the region was reported on September 9, 2020, when two Special Operations Group (SOG) commandos and five Maoists were killed in an exchange of fire between the Maoists and an anti-Maoist operations team in a forest area in Kalahandi District, the recent increase in civilian fatalities clearly indicates a greater Maoist focus on the region.
While an operational escalation on the part of SFs is, consequently, necessary, the number of Maoists neutralized has gone down from 13 in 2020 to just two in 2021 and one in 2022. On October 24, 2022, a woman CPI-Maoist cadre was killed in an exchange of fire between the Maoists and SOG personnel in the Sindhi Forest area under Baliguda Police Station limits in Kandhamal District. Following information of the existence of a Maoist camp of the Maoists’ ‘KKBN division’ in the area, SOG personnel conducted a combing operation, during which they had an exchange of fire with the Maoists. In the subsequent search, they recovered the body of a woman Maoist, along with her weapon. However, about 20 Maoists managed to flee. The deceased woman has not yet been identified.
To combat the insurgents, 21 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Companies (each with 135 personnel), 15 SOG teams, 159 District Voluntary Force units, 20 Indian Reserve Battalion, nine Special Security Battalions, and 31 Odisha Special Striking Force personnel are currently deployed in the ‘KKBN division.’
After taking a beating from SFs across the country, the Maoists are certainly struggling to reclaim their areas of influence. The ‘KKBN division,’ with its shared borders with other Maoist-affected areas and forested terrain, has become more important for the Maoists in their renewed search for a safe haven.
Prasanta Patnaik