Nearly seven years after they made a tactical retreat, Maoists have begun their moves to regain their foothold in North Telangana districts.
Noticeable movement of armed cadres in forest areas in Adilabad, Khammam, Karimnagar, and Warangal districts in the recent times have confirmed the apprehensions that Maoists have begun a serious effort to regain their foothold in areas, which had witnessed intense revolutionary activity earlier. Only in Nizamabad district, the naxal movement has not been noticed so far, officials say.
More than 40 armed naxalites are believed to be moving in different squad formations in these districts and their primary task appears to be reviving their old contacts to gain a foothold in the areas. The naxal teams, strength of each varying from six to 15, are camping in the jungles, confirmed police sources. The naxals are known to be armed with sophisticated weapons like the Insas rifles, AK-47, SLRs, and other bolt action rifles.
The naxal teams are believed to have been tasked with the responsibilities of identifying local issues concerning people so that they could form mass organisations under different names to launch the partial struggles, a tactic which these North Telangana districts witnessed in early 90s. However, the biggest drawback for the Maoists so far appears to be the waning people's support to the revolutionary movement, as it is no more seen as an effective solution to the failure of democratic political activity. Nevertheless, the Maoist cadres are patiently trying to cultivate support from people, while using the opportunity to identify people's issues.
Reliable sources indicate that the North Telangana Special Zonal Committee (NTSZC) which has the responsibility of reviving the naxal movement held its meeting in August last in a forest area near Karregutta, beyond Cherla of Khammam district. The meeting, sources said, discussed various plans to set up and strengthen the Maoist organisational activity in these five districts. The most important decision of the meeting was to float cover organisations which could launch agitations. Recruitment was another issue that engaged the attention of the NTSZC members for a long time, reports indicate.
The other decisions of the meeting were to start a campaign titled ‘Azad memorial party campaign' and to step up efforts to get the arrested naxalites released and to form solidarity committees to support various militant outfits working in North Eastern States. Interestingly, the NTSZC refers to these militants as ‘LTTE' in its coded documents. Another puzzling decision, sources said, was to allow underground cadres to meet their family members.
The increased movement of naxal cadres has led to intensification of counter insurgency operations in forest areas. As latest as October 26, police exchanged fire with naxals in Tadwai mandal of Warangal. The biggest worry for the police is now whether these armed cadres would target the ruling party politicians who are visiting interior villages for Rachabanda.
