Maoist resurgence efforts raise concerns in West Bengal

A Trinamool Congress (TMC) booth-level leader from Bankura was in for a shock when he got up on Monday morning. A letter slipped into the room through the gap under the door. It was an “extortion note” purportedly from a Maoist organisation.

‘Maoist’ extortion bid

Dijyapada Mishra, a TMC booth president from Mukundapur village of Bankura district of West Bengal, has been asked in the letter to contribute Rs 50,000 to the “Maoist fund.”

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The discovery of the letter alarmed the police as they had already tracked some Maoist activities in the neighbouring Jhargram district following a series of recent setbacks the red militants suffered in Chhattisgarh.

Jhargram and Bankura are part of West Bengal’s Jangalmahal region, which was once a Maoist bastion.

Are Maoists trying to regroup?

There are intelligence reports that Maoists are on the lookout for safer bases outside the besieged Chhattisgarh.

Police stations in Jangalmahal, especially in those areas where the Left extremists were active, have received special instructions to keep a tab on possible Maoist activities, said a state police official from the region.

The “extortion note” spooked the police as it came close on the heels of the discovery of three Maoist posters in the district, warning Panchayat leaders.

Posters with revenge warnings

Posters bearing Maoist insignia talked about avenging the killing of their leaders. The posters were put up near Taldangra police station, a TMC office and the residence of the party’s Bankura Zilla Parishad chief in April this year.

Earlier this week, a Kolkata businessman also received an extortion demand of Rs 50 lakh to “fund Maoist organisation.”

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It is not yet clear whether Maoist organisations were actually behind these incidents, but police are not leaving anything to chance as there are tip-offs about Maoists trying to get a foothold in the region.

Investigations are on in all these cases, police sources said.

Intelligence Bureau report

A recent Intelligence Bureau (IB) report also mentioned that some visiting Maoist leaders have indoctrinated some youths from the state, said an IB official posted in Kolkata.

These youths are believed to have been embedded with a Manipur-based separatist militant group, the Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) for training.

A senior police official, however, told The Federal that there are indications of Maoists trying to rebuild their network, particularly among tribal communities of Bengal’s Jangalmahal area since 2022. A day-long bandh called by the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) in April of that year brought life to a standstill in Jhargram district, he pointed out.

Sleeper cells

The outfit’s “eastern regional bureau” has sleeper cells in Jhargram, Bankura, Purulia, Birbhum and West Midnapore and is trying to establish its footprint in districts outside Jangalmahal, according to police sources.

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Jangalmahal is one of the most underdeveloped regions of the state despite the state government’s recent initiatives like the "Jangal Sundari Karmanagari" (JSK) scheme. The JSK aimed to create an integrated manufacturing cluster and industrial township to generate employment opportunities for local youths.

There is still simmering anger in the area over the lack of developments as the government initiatives are yet to bear results.

Tribals boycott govt event

In protest against the alleged indifference, a number of tribal organisations under the banner of the West Bengal Scheduled Tribe Welfare Association (WBSTWA) boycotted the annual “Jangal Mahal Utsav” in January this year. The festival is organised every year by the state government to preserve and promote the art, craft, and culture of the tribal communities.

The tribal organisations boycotted the festival due to the government’s continuous “disregard of genuine development of the Adivasi community,” said Khokon Mardi, a tribal leader of the region.

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Such feelings of neglect provide opportunities for the Maoists to make inroads in the region, Mardi added.

Maoists' bid to expand base

Two CPI (Maoist) functionaries Pramod Mishra and Prashant Bose alias Kishen Da came under the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) scanner last year for the outfit’s attempt to revive and expand its presence in various parts of India, including West Bengal, police sources said.

Interrogations of the Maoist leaders revealed the Maoist’s plan of trying to expand beyond its traditional operational areas in Bengal, they added.

NIA raids

The inputs led the NIA to raid at least 11 places in South 24 Pargana, Asansol, Howrah, Nadia and Kolkata in October last year in connection with the cases involving the two Maoist leaders.

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In the past one and half year, more than 400 alleged Maoist rebels, including top leaders, have been killed in Chhattisgarh while several others had surrendered to join the mainstream.