Bhopal SIMI encounter changes the rules of anti-Maoist offensive
"Ramakrishna is safe,'' announced Varavara Rao, revolutionary poet and Maoist sympathiser late on Thursday November 3. He was referring to the top Maoist commander who was reported missing since the encounter in Malkangiri in Odisha on October 24.
In the last ten days, civil liberties activists had gone on the offensive, insinuating that only Andhra Pradesh Police knew where Ramakrishna was. Ramakrishna's wife, Sirisha, filed a habeas corpus in the Hyderabad High court, alleging that Ramakrishna was in the custody of the Andhra police.
While the underground cadre of the Maoists and their supporters over ground are heaving a sigh of relief, the police are seething. They were the target of a whisper campaign that they were torturing Ramakrishna in custody.
Alternately, it was also alleged that the police knew where he was, and they were ensuring that medicines do not reach an injured Ramakrishna by arresting all the registered medical practitioners in the area. The cops were also accused of keep a vigil on the medical shops and detain anyone suspected to be buying medicines for Ramakrishna.
In the end, it turned out to be a case of crying wolf.
The police believe it has always been at the receiving end of the high-decibel propaganda war unleashed by Maoist sympathisers. Every encounter is labelled as fake, including the latest one in Malkangiri in which 30 Maoists were killed. The police had gone into the extremely remote part of the Balimela region, on the basis of a tip-off about a plenary session in progress.
While the police version is that at least 30 Maoists managed to escape, Maoist sympathisers claim that many of the bodies were mutilated, which indicates they were tortured before being killed. In other words, the encounter was not a case of firing from both ends, but fake where Maoists were caught, tortured and then killed.
Sympathisers of the rebels now want the police to stop combing operations in the Andhra-Odisha border zone, which includes part of north eastern Andhra Pradesh in Vizag district and the forest range of western Odisha. They allege that tribals are being tortured for information on Ramakrishna's whereabouts.
The Andhra police believe that the Maoist supporters have been proved as liars in the past, and they have lost their credibility. It has asked the civil liberties activists who asked the cops to come clean on Ramakrishna, to provide his details. It is a fair demand as well, though obviously unlikely to be acceded to.
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| The rules of the game have also changed. Especially after the Bhopal encounter in which eight SIMI undertrials were gunned down. (Photo: PTI) |
Ramakrishna, as one of the top guns of the fast-shrinking leadership of the CPI(Maoist), has been a major force and voice in decisions taken by the outlawed group. And with the number of hits he has either authorised personally or been part of the decision-making process, he will be a prize catch for the police. Ramakrishna is someone they want to bring to book.
There is a spring in the police step as well. Emboldened by the well-coordinated strike, backed by solid intelligence inputs, they believe Ramakrishna is not out of reach.
Realising that Andhra-Odisha border is no longer a safe haven, it is likely that Ramakrishna will be moved to Chhattisgarh. He is too important a leader, too brilliant a tactical commander for the Maoists to lose.
Incidentally IG of police in Bastar, the ground zero of the Maoist terror in south Chhattisgarh, SR Kalluri told Prime Minister Narendra Modi this week that he will wipe out Maoist presence in two years. Kalluri is a cop known for his tough methods, that has won him both ardent admirers and fierce critics.
What is important is that the rules of the game have also changed. Especially after the Bhopal encounter in which eight SIMI undertrials were gunned down.
The Anti-Terror Squad chief of Madhya Pradesh has said, on record, that the cops were within their rights to kill the SIMI activists, even if they were unarmed. The audio of the conversation among cops on the ground and their seniors also reveal that the orders were to kill.
Andhra police are too smart not to take note of this shift. They would be noticing the public support on social media for the action, even though much of it is known to be manufactured and coming from one specific right-wing corner. They would believe that terror of any sort is not tolerated anymore and that there is little patience for those who advocate human rights for a bunch of alleged criminals.
In this cat and mouse game that has gone on for close to five decades, the Andhra police will want to believe it has the upper hand now. They know the death of his son Munna in the Malkangiri encounter would have left even a hardened outlaw like Ramakrishna feeling a bit vulnerable and emotionally weak. This is the opportunity the police would like to capitalise on.
Having pushed the Maoists on the back foot, the intention is not to release the pressure. The Andhra and Odisha police want to ensure some presence in the same zone where the encounter took place so that the Reds do not make a comeback to the safe patch. The Red corridor just got a bit shrunk.
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