Tense situation as ‘hype’ created around Maoist movement in Adilabad
ADILABAD: A tense situation, in what might look like the calm before a storm, is prevailing in the villages in Adilabad following the intensified combing operations by a specially tasked police force to flush out Maoists from the district.
The police are moving along the banks of rivers Pranahitha and Godavari and conducting vehicle checks and frisking of the passengers, apart from search operations in interior adivasi gudems in recent days.
The SP of Asifabad, Adilabad and Nirmal districts has informed the media that a group of Maoists entered the erstwhile Adilabad and were moving around the interior areas.
Perceptions are that the police force was creating a hype around the Maoist movement without sufficient reasons. While assumptions are that a contingent of 10-15 Maoists entered Adilabad district, there was no specific information about Maoist presence in the region.
A photograph of a woman Maoist was in circulation in the olive green dress with a weapon attached to it. News spread that the photograph was of a missing adivasi woman and activist Jugnak Ramba Bai, 30, of Pangidimadara in Asifabad district.
A police officer however said it was not Ramba Bai but a cadre of Chhattisgarh and the photo was fake. Ramba Bai’s disappearance remained a mystery and her whereabouts were unknown since December 16, 2019.
The officer said some police informants were just passing information without ascertaining facts about the Maoist movement, in order to get some money.
It is no more easy for the Maoists to recruit Adivasi youths in sizable numbers into their fold as the police communication network has been strengthened manifold as also the network of police informants.
A police officer said only one or two persons joined the Maoist outfit recently after six months of rigorous efforts from February 2020 by the state committee member of CPI (Maoist) Mylarapu Adellu alias Bhaskar.
Subsequently, two Maoists were killed in an exchange of fire between the police and Maoists in Kadamba forests in Kagaznagar Rural mandal in Kumarambheem Asifabad district on September 19, 2020, he noted.
Some police officials are reportedly of the opinion that Maoists entered the erstwhile Adilabad district after an exchange of fire at Charla in Bhadradri Kothagudem and in Mulugu district in recent times. Maoists aimed at regaining their foothold by taking the advantage of the extra greenery during the monsoon season, they surmised.
A police officer said a majority of the adivasi youths were now addicted to cell phone browsing and a modern lifestyle. They often sought installation of cell towers in their locality and complained of signal problems whenever the collector or the SP visited their villages, he noted.
A majority of the adivasi youths of today are not ready to take risks or face hardships. Hence, they do not warm up to the recruiters for underground activities, he added.
