Authorities fear return of Maoists

The arrest of a Maoist state committee leader and his wife from Kolkata on Saturday night has raised alarms within the security establishment. 

Even though no Maoist activities have been reported in Bengal in almost four years, the Election Commission and security agencies are not willing to let their guard down with the arrests coming barely two days before the first phase of polling.

With as many as nine constituencies in Jungle Mahal, an area considered a hotbed of Maoist activities since 2006, are witnessing polling in the first phase, the recent arrests have made authorities believe that the ultra Left outfit could be staging a comeback. Maoists lost their grip over the region — the forested area cuts across districts of Bankura, Purulia and West Midnapore — since the encounter death of top leader Kishenji in November 2011.

Arrests
The Kolkata Police’s Special Task Force arrested CPI (Maoist) state committee member Bikash, and his wife, Tara, also a party member, from central Kolkata, based on a tip-off, Joint Commissioner (STF) Vishal Garg, told reporters. 

The police seized a 7.62 mm pistol, an Ak-47 assault rifle, two magazines and around 120 live bullets from their hideout, the location of which remains undisclosed.

Authorities are more concerned with a bunch of books on Maoist ideology in Santhali language, seized from the couple. 

Investigators believe this to be a clear indication that ultras are trying to regain grounds in the tribal-majority Jungle Mahal.

 This comes within days of CPI (Maoist) state secretary, Akash, issuing a statement, put up as posters across Jungle Mahal, in which he called for boycotting the polls.

Officials admitted that the widespread belief within the administration and security establishment was that Maoists lost their direction after Kishenji’s death. 

“This belief has suddenly come under question. There are reports that ultras have been running a whispering campaign in Jungle Mahal against the state government for the last few months,” an official said.

Even though the Trinamool Congress government has been taking developmental steps in the largely impoverished region, there is still a lot to be done, officials agreed.

Jungle Mahal has around 40 seats, of which 18 seats witnessed election on Monday, with the second round scheduled for April 11.

 Since Maoists had significant presence in nearly 30 of these seats between 2006 and 2011, authorities are not willing to take chances. 

If Monday’s polling under a heavy blanket of security was a glimpse into EC’s strategy, the cordon will be further tightened for the next phase, officials said.