Naxal leader warns of bloodier 2010

New Delhi, Dec. 22: If 2009 was bad, 2010 would be “bloodier” if the government goes ahead with its planned offensive against the Maoist jungle bases, a top guerrilla leader has vowed while warning of more retaliatory violence in the months to come.

“Home minister P. Chidambaram is a liar. At one level he says the offensive is a media creation, but at the same time he is pumping in more troops in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. I understand there is going to be a major crackdown in March,” said Koteshwar Rao alias Kishenji, a politburo member of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), which does not believe in parliamentary democracy and swears by the barrel of the gun.

“If they (security forces) begin their operations, I promise you 2010 will get bloodier. There will be no respite from violence,” Kishenji, in charge of operations in eastern India, said in a telephonic interview from an undisclosed location in West Bengal.

Till November 15 this year, over 770 civilians and security personnel were killed in Maoist violence, the largest number of casualties in four years. In Jharkhand alone — one of the worst affected states — there have been 1,885 incidents of violence since 2006. He claimed that Operation Green Hunt, — the offensive launched by the Centre against the Maoists — will “backfire”.

Kishenji, 52, operates from the interiors of Lalgarh in West Bengal.