Himalayan News Service

New Delhi, May 12:

Amid escalating violence by Maoist guerrillas, the Indian government wants to go after their top leaders in a bid to paralyse the country’s dominant underground leftist group. There is also a growing feeling in the government that security forces need to step up their offensive against the resurgent Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist).

This follows concerns that the erstwhile People’s War Group (PWG) and Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) have unleashed violence since their merger last year, particularly in areas where they feel that state power is weak.

A special task force set up to tackle leftwing extremism in the home ministry has decided to zero in on big leaders of the CPI-Maoist. “This might be a more effective strategy as it will weaken the organisational stru-cture and may blunt their operations,” a ministry source said.

The PWG and MCC together are known to command some 4,000 armed members who are grouped in ‘dalams’, or action squads. Their support base is however much larger, and their influence extends to nine states. They derive their dominant strength from Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Jharkhand.

The top PWG leader is Muppalla Lakshman Rao alias Ganapathi while MCC’s leading figure goes by the nom de guerre Vinay.

Attacks on police stations and government buildings by Maoist rebels have increased and home ministry officials say a better coordination between states is required. The newly constituted standing committee on leftwing extremism, headed by Home Minister Shivraj Patil and comprising chief ministers of nine states, was set up for this purpose last month.