Maoists on a Recruitment Drive

Despite Warangal proving a fertile ground for Maoists for the last four decades, they have witnessed a strong opposition to their activities from the police forces in the last decade. This has compelled them to shift their base to Chhattisgarh, decreasing their foothold in the region. Also, with intensified combing operations in the district, they have not recruited new Maoists into the party and have witnessed a series of encounters. Earlier Maoist forces existed in groups of tens and twenties but with encounters taking a toll on them, the number has plummeted to one or two. They are, however, paying secret visits to Warangal.

Meanwhile, police opine that their activities have come down but they manage to make their presence felt by resorting to some sort of violence. As part of their activities, they had recently killed a BILT officer, Ramakrishna, in Kamalapuram village of Mangapeta mandal. The killing took place under the aegis of a committee monitoring operations in Khammam, Karimnagar and Warangal (KKW). According to police, Maoists are making arrangements to recruit new ones to into their party. The recruitments are being supervised by KKW member Bade Chokkarao alias Damodar, to expand the party activities in the three districts. However, police say that they are counter-checking Maoist activities and tracking the movements of those shuttling between Warangal and Chhatisgarh.

They have also beefed up security in Maoist-affected areas while Greyhounds police have intensified combing operations in the forests of Karimnagar, Khammam and Warangal. After a fire exchange between Maoists and police in Chinnaboinapalli of Tadwai mandal on October 26, Damodar escaped but left his kit bag behind. Through the information obtained from material in his bag, police learnt that they have begun making arrangements for recruiting new Maoists into the forces. According to information received by the police, Damodar’s wife Urmila alias Sabita is supervising Maoist activities in Mahadevpur and Euturunagaram area.

Police say that they have set up a separate team for recruiting new Maoists and they would be recruited through local organizing committees (in villages) which are coordinating with the KKW team. A police officer, under the condition of anonymity, said that they were aware of the preparations for the recruitment process and added that the police would impede their activities. “Recruitments have not begun yet,” the police officer revealed.