Chhattisgarh: Naxal Commander Papa Rao’s Surrender May Spell Doom for LWE in Bastar
Ex-Maoist known as ‘encyclopedia of reds’ in conflict zone
Raipur: Recent surrender of South Sub-Zonal Bureau chief Papa Rao alias Mangu, called in the security circles the ‘last standing Naxal commander of Bastar’, may spell doom for Naxalim in the tribal belt of Chhattisgarh, a senior police officer said on Thursday.
For Papa Rao knows every detail of Naxalism in Bastar, beginning from the cadres and leaders operating in the tribal-belt, to their supply chains and intelligence networks, being the ‘encyclopedia of Maoism’ in Bastar, the police officer said, unwilling to be quoted.
“Papa Rao is the biggest asset for us to make Chhattisgarh completely Naxal-free. He knows every inch of Bastar and every Maoist cadre in Chhattisgarh. He knows the Maoist blueprint of the Reds’ financial empire, urban network and their future plan”, he disclosed.
He will lead us to other hiding Naxal leaders and cadres in the jungles in the borders of Sukma-Bijapur districts in south Bastar, where Maoists have three-four small pockets of influence still now, the police officer hoped.
A native of Sukma district in south Bastar, Papa Rao had been in the Maoist cadre since last two and a half decades and had played a key role in helping Maoist top leaders build the red base in east Chhattisgarh district of Gariaband, bordering Odisha, and Bastar region.
He was allegedly involved in some major Naxal incidents in Bastar, including the 2010 Tadmetla massacre of 76 CRPF jawans and abduction of former Sukma district collector Alex Paul Menon in 2012.
He had successfully managed to circulate his fake death news in the security circles on three occasions to divert their attention from him.
In July 2016, news spread that Papa Rao died of snake bite.
In May 2020, the news about his death due to kidney failure was circulated in the security circles.
Similarly, news spread that he was killed in an encounter with security forces in Bijapur district in January in which his wife Urmila was slain.
Papa Rao used to circulate his fake death news to keep him off the attention of security forces, sources said.
