Chhattisgarh: Maoists' Vital Unit Backs Top Naxal Leader Sonu’s Call For Renouncement Of Armed Struggle
Top Maoist leaders are believed to have found Abujhmad, the only un-surveyed patch of the country, a safe haven: Report
RAIPUR: Indicating the ‘deepening turmoil’ in the outlawed Maoists, Maad division committee secretary Sonita has extended its support for the call to renounce the armed struggle given to the cadres by central committee member Mallojula Venugopal.
A purported press release issued by Sonita said that leaders of different sections functioning under it have fully backed Venugopal’s call for giving up arms and joining the mainstream. The Maoist unit is considered one of the vital wings of the banned outfit for guarding the Abujhmad, a 4,000 sq km densely forested area extending from south Bastar in Chhattisgarh to Gadchiroli in Maharashtra.
Top Maoist leaders are believed to have found Abujhmad, the only un-surveyed patch of the country, a safe haven.
Maoists’ general secretary Basavaraju was killed in an encounter with the security forces in Abujhmad part falling under Narayanpur district in south Bastar in May this year. Besides, a couple of central committee members were gunned down in separate encounters in this part of Bastar recently.
Venugopal, considered No. 2 in the hierarchy, had recently released a letter announcing his resignation from the organisation following the ideological rift among the Naxal leadership over surrender and joining the mainstream.
Counterinsurgency experts have described the latest development as ‘very significant’, indicating the turbulence in the upper echelons of the organisation. Sonita’s letter “is a clear indication of prevailing ground reality”, Bastar range inspector general of police P. Sunderraj told this newspaper on Tuesday.
“Over the past months, security forces in Bastar have recorded historic, game-changing successes in anti-Maoist operations, neutralizing top Naxal leaders like Basavaraju, Sudhakar, Kosa, and Ramachandra Reddy which inflicted a decisive and irretrievable blow to the banned CPI (Maoist)”, he said.
Their removal has effectively shattered the outfit’s leadership chain and left the organization confused, demoralized and leaderless, he added.
In another significant development, security forces on Tuesday opened a forward operating base (FOB) at Belanar, a core area of Maoists in Abujhmad along Narayanpur-Bijapur district,, in south Bastar. The move will help security forces penetrate further deep into the red corridor in Abujhmad, sources said.
