Tag: operation

How one phone call busted a Naxal operation in Bihar

Source: livemint.com

NEW DELHI: As floods knifed through Bihar and forces scrambled to aid rescue operations in the state, a telephone call on the afternoon of 22 July in the state’s Bodh Gaya district changed the order of the day: Naxals had infiltrated into the area and had orders to carry out a big operation against security forces.

It was that phone call which ultimately led to one of the biggest anti-Naxal operations in the area in recent years, on Thursday afternoon, leading to the Naxal camp being wiped out by security forces.

From that day on — even as the Central Reserve Police Force’s (CRPF) intelligence wing began to scramble for inputs, which came in abundance – even though it was business as usual, forces were sworn to complete secrecy over the upcoming operation.

“Intelligence Inputs by sources developed by CPRF had been pouring in since 22 July about presence of a Maoist squad in this area and therefore an operation was planned after corroboration of inputs with the assistant superintendent of police (ASP) of Operation in Gaya and Aurangabad, along with a combined team of CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) and the CRPF,” said a senior CRPF official, seeking anonymity.

With the Naxals’ new commander Basavraj already having lost one of his key men Madkam Hidma to an encounter earlier this week, the armed cadre of the Naxals had come prepped to inflict maximum damage, from neighbouring Chattisgarh.

“All these teams were inducted from different routes with utmost deception avoiding all possibilities that could have alerted the vigilant Maoists of our plan. Their activities in the area have been persistently tracked and monitored through recent operations,” the official quoted above added.

While tactical action teams of Indian security forces had been inducted in complete secrecy, amid incessant rains, they were stationed at the respective locations at the break of dawn on Thursday.

“The CoBRA Strike came in direct confrontation with the Maoist sentry stationed few meters away from a temporary makeshift camp. Although the Maoist sentry emptied his rifle magazine, trying to push back the advancing Commandos, they (commandos) tactfully managed to dodge his bullets, quickly flanking and encircling this temporary camp meanwhile engaging in retaliatory fire,” said another senior security force official, requesting anonymity.

By the afternoon of Thursday, a full gun battle had been raging between the security forces and Naxals in the area of Sathnadia Nallah of Chakkarbandha forest in Bodh Gaya.

“An Exchange of Fire erupted between the CoBRA Commandos and CPI Maoist cadres at approximately 12:30pm on Thursday afternoon near Chakkarbandha forest. After half hour of gun battle, Cobra commandos managed to overrun the camp of the Maoists without any harm or loss on their (CoBRA) side. Five IEDs (improvised explosive devices) were planted in the vicinity of this camp, which were safely diffused by troops,” said the CRPF official.

‘One nation, one poll’ in a time of Operation Lotus

Source: freepressjournal.in

The spokespersons of both the BJP and the Congress were probably right in their comments on the political instability in Karnataka. While the Congress alleged that the BJP was “buying” the ruling alliance’s MLAs to grab power in the state, the BJP asserted that it could not be blamed if the Janata Dal (S)-Congress government could not keep its own house in order.

The phenomenon of the legislators on the lookout for greener pastures has been an unsavoury aspect of Indian politics since the “Aya Ram, Gaya Ram” days of defection in Haryana in 1967 (and elsewhere afterwards) which now features in the Wikipedia. The reference is to a footloose Haryana MLA who changed parties thrice in a fortnight.

The rebellious Karnataka legislators belonging to the Congress and the Janata Dal (S) have been less adventurous. But they have kept their party bosses on tenterhooks about their intentions ever since the two parties, which fought against each other in the last assembly election, came together to form a government to keep out the BJP. But it was a quest for power and not any ideological opposition to the BJP which made them form a coalition.

Since then, it has been a fragile arrangement and has become even frailer after the BJP’s resounding successes at the national level this year and also in Karnataka where it won 25 of the 28 seats in the latest parliamentary polls. With the political winds clearly blowing in the BJP’s favour, some of the ruling coalition’s MLAs are apparently wondering whether their earlier career choices were all right.

The BJP has also apparently not hesitated to woo them with various inducements – ministerial and otherwise – in an exercise which has been called Operation Lotus. The lotus, as is known, is the BJP’s symbol.

But what is worth considering in this unedifying context is up to to what extent do operations of this kind are compatible with Narendra Modi’s pet project of ushering in an era of “one nation, one poll” (ON-OP) where there will be simultaneous elections every five years at the assembly, parliamentary and municipal levels.

The objective, as has been explained by the BJP, is to dispense with the present practice of elections at the assembly and municipal levels in various states virtually almost every year which entail considerable expenditure and interfere with purposeful governance.

There may be a case for ON-OP, but how will it fit in with Operation Lotus? The ON-OP concept assumes that once elected, the central the state governments, as well as the municipal bodies, will function uninterrupted for five years.

But the state governments can hardly do so if an Operation Lotus is launched, for the latter’s objective is to wean away from the power hungry MLAs from the ruling party or alliance and form another government.

Since an operation of this nature can only take place in the midst of a five-year term in a state, it cannot but disturb the ON-OP system. Even if the government which assumes office halfway through a five-year term proves to be reasonably stable, its political legitimacy will still be open to question because of its dubious route to power. The ousted parties will have every right, therefore, to call for an election.

At the root of the problem are, obviously the fickle loyalties of today’s politicians. As long as ideology takes a backseat and the lure of the perks and privileges of office in a ruling dispensation remains the main reason for switching sides, the poachers of the most resourceful of the parties will have an advantage over their rivals in winning over the greedy.

Avarice is at the core of the floor-crossings which the anti-defection law has done little to curb presumably because the defectors move in herds.

However, it remains a mystery, as Milan Vaishnav says in his book, When Crime Pays: Money and Muscle in Indian Politics, “How democratic elections and large numbers of elected officials tied to illegal activity can comfortably coexist.

“After all, the democratic theory suggests that one of the crucial functions of elections is to provide a reliable channel through which voters can weed out badly behaving politicians… If, however, candidates tied to wrongdoing are rewarded, rather than rejected … it means something is amiss in the functioning of democracy”.

Since defections take place on the promise of “rewards”, it is obvious that exercises like Operation Lotus harm the democratic structure. But will ON-OP lead to restrictions being placed on such operations so that the projected virtually fixed five-year terms of the legislatures are not disturbed?

No unambiguous answers are available because curbs on such manoeuvres will mean that the covetous legislators will have to turn over a new leaf where morals are concerned. It is possible, therefore, that just as the parties have continued to field the so-called history-sheeters because of their influence in their respective constituencies, the “Aya Ram, Gaya Ram” phenomenon will remain a part of Indian politics in the foreseeable future.

Bihar police arrest Maoist injured in encounter, seize arms

Source:- newindianexpress.com

The encounter between the anti-naxal team and the ultras ensued when the cops intercepted the duo moving suspiciously near Ram Sharan College on Jandaha-Mahnar road

PATNA: Bihar police have arrested a Maoist who was injured during an anti-naxal operation in Vaishali district of the state on Monday.

The injured Maoist has been identified as Mohammad Aijaz. His associate Raja Sahni managed to flee. 

The encounter between the anti-naxal team and the ultras ensued after the cops intercepted the duo. The cops found them moving suspiciously near Ram Sharan College on Jandaha-Mahnar road. 

The operation was carried out on a specific intelligence input by ASP (operation).  Vaishali Superintendent of Police (SP) MS Dhillon, who monitored the operation said, ” We got tip off that some persons affiliated to a Maoist outfit led by one Amarnath Sahni were reaching a spot to purchase arms and ammunition”. 

Following this, an anti-naxal team was formed and rushed to the spot. “The ultras came in a bike. When intercepted, one of them fired on the police party. The team retaliated and in the encounter Mohd. Aijaz suffered bullet injuries in his leg,” Dhillon said, adding, Sahni, a resident of Dih Bicholi, however, escaped. 

“Both are wanted in three murder cases and three other cases under Arms Act and ULAP act. A country-made revolver, 6 ammo and one fired cartridge along with bike have been seized from the duo, the SP further added.  

None of the cops was injured in the encounter.

The captured accused, Aijaz,  son of Mohammad Idrees Mian from Chandsarai has been hospitalised and is said to be out of danger.  “Even after the encounter with ultras, the areas affected with Naxal activities are being sanitised for remaining associates”, Dhillon said.  

In the past, two farmers were abducted and killed by CPI (Maoists) after they were returning from a nearby village Dihouchauli. The areas falling under the Jandaha and Patepur police stations in Bihar’s Vaishali district are suspected to be in the grip of ultras.