Encounter on between Maoists, paramilitary forces in Chhattisgarh

[dee]

Security forces clash with Maoists in central India



RAIPUR, India — Security forces fought a pitched jungle battle Wednesday with Maoist rebels in central India, officials said, with no casualties reported on the government side.

The clash, involving 225 police and commandos and an unspecified number of the leftwing guerrillas, took place in the deep jungle of Dantewada district in the state of Chhattisgarh -- a Maoist stronghold.

"No one from the security forces was killed or injured, but some Maoists may have been killed," said Rajesh Kukreja, Dantewada's deputy police chief.

The gun battle began at around midday (0630 GMT) and lasted for several hours.

Dantewada has witnessed a series of deadly Maoist strikes in recent months.

In April, a rebel ambush killed 76 policemen in the bloodiest single attack so far on the security forces.

The government launched a major offensive last year to tackle the Maoists, also known as Naxalites because they trace their insurgency back to a 1967 peasant uprising in the West Bengal village of Naxalbari.

The rebels are active across a large swathe of eastern and central India, and rely on support from landless tribal groups and poor farmers who have been left behind by economic development.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has labelled the Maoists as the country's single largest internal security threat.

On Tuesday, Chhattisgarh Home Minister Nankiram Kanwar revealed that 853 people, including 435 security personnel and 418 civilians, had been killed in Maoist violence in the state since 2007.

He did not give any details of Maoist casualties.



AFP: Security forces clash with Maoists in central India

 

[Mirza Jatt]

One Maoist was killed after a five-hour long encounter

Raipur: One Maoist was killed after a five-hour long encounter between Maoists and security forces in Chattisgarh's Dantewada district tody

The gunfight began at about one in the afternoon near the forests of Gumiapal and Kutram, 450 kilometres from the state capital Raipur.

Additional reinforcements have been sent to the area. There is no confirmation of the number of casualties.

According to reports, Maoists ambushed a team of security personnel, comprising of state police and commandos of the Special Task Force (STF).

No casualties have been reported from the security personnel.

Read more at: Dantewada: One maoist killed in five-hour-long encounter

 

[Tshering22]

I want to ask Lt. PRATEEK sir why the hell is IA so scared of taking up the combat between us and Maoists who're like Taliban of India? Are they afraid of massacring terrorists?

The clear lack of initiative from the Army shows the professional standing of the top brass generals. Either some of them are possibly involved covertly or I don't know what. Maoism won't last more than 3-4 months (involving in about killing 8-10,000 terrorists brutally) with Army's full might behind it.

We buy gadgets but we don't freakin' use them. What's the Army for? Cheerleading at Wagah border?

 

[Mirza Jatt]

I want to ask Lt. PRATEEK sir why the hell is IA so scared of taking up the combat between us and Maoists who're like Taliban of India? Are they afraid of massacring terrorists?

The clear lack of initiative from the Army shows the professional standing of the top brass generals. Either some of them are possibly involved covertly or I don't know what. Maoism won't last more than 3-4 months (involving in about killing 8-10,000 terrorists brutally) with Army's full might behind it.

We buy gadgets but we don't freakin' use them. What's the Army for? Cheerleading at Wagah border?

hey Tshering. how are you man ??

on topic..

firsty I think its Indian Govt who is not prepared for the use of army, IA has never proposed or denied to take on these maoists.

secondly if army is used, it would go for full fledged attack destroying everything on their way..the maoist are mixed among the common people and villlagers, we need to identify and then target them and that needs excellent intelligence set up. the maoist do not come face to face unlike taliban.

 

[Ras]

Been fighting for 62 years..Either the naxlites are supermen or IA is incompetent. Alos ISI might be involved here as usual.

The Indian army has never fought the naxalites.

 

[dee]

Gunfight with Maoists over, 'missing' Chhattisgarh cops safe


Security forces fought a long-drawn gun battle with heavily armed Maoists in a forest in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada area that ended on Wednesday evening, a top police official said, adding that the 70 policemen earlier reported missing were found to be safe. "Our courageous jawans displayed bravery in the encounter that began around 11 a.m. and stretched till evening. Now the gun fight is over and all policemen are safe... they are on their way back but returning very slowly as there is a possibility of landmines or ambushes in their forested way after sunset," Director General of Police Vishwa Ranjan said.

The gunfight began when Maoists attacked a search team of the state police in a thickly forested area of Gumiapal, close to Kirandul, about 420 km south of capital Raipur, an iron ore mining facility of India's top iron ore producer NMDC Ltd.

A strong contingent of the District Force and Koya Commando comprising special police officers (SPOs) had gone into the forest around 11 a.m. after a tip-off about the presence of a unit headed by Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) commander Ganesh Uike, state police spokesperson Rajesh Mishra told reporters.

"Our forces hit five rebels with bullets in the initial spell of the battle and the rebels climbed up to a hilltop to launch a counter-attack but they (Maoists) never managed to succeed," said Ranjan.

Ranjan, who was monitoring the gunfight from the police headquarters here, said some 100 policemen came under attack from the Maoists and a 75-member reinforcement sent later also engaged the rebels.

Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) T.J. Longkumer said: "It is really a major relief... Maoists were never allowed during the six-hour battle to dominate us. It is good to know that all our jawans are safe."


Gunfight with Maoists over, 'missing' Chhattisgarh cops safe - Hindustan Times

 

[humanfirst]

I talked to a crpf jawan,who once survived a maoist ambush.According to him it's really hard to fight in jungle with our insas rifle which cant fire on full auto mode.In thick jungle they cant even properly sight the maoists in green camos and with our insas they cant spray bullets in approximate direction(It's hard to bring down a target we cant see with insas's single round fire or three round burst)Poor guys

 

[True_Pakistan_Zindabad]

Indian government does not seem to want to solve this problem properly (military). All those Tavor assault rifles and thermal imaging scopes are too busy collecting dust on the Pakistan border. Police are forced to use bolt action and semi automatic elephant guns. It seems like this problem has not been solved post-Mumbai like promised. Police are still archaic reactionary force and it's hilarious that they are fighting in guerrilla war.

 

[Tshering22]

hey Tshering. how are you man ??

on topic..

firsty I think its Indian Govt who is not prepared for the use of army, IA has never proposed or denied to take on these maoists.

secondly if army is used, it would go for full fledged attack destroying everything on their way..the maoist are mixed among the common people and villlagers, we need to identify and then target them and that needs excellent intelligence set up. the maoist do not come face to face unlike taliban.

bro- the Naxalites are using the same weapons that Taliban is using against the Pakistani Army. We have to be prepared to take some collateral damage or somehow start getting the villagers on our side. Train the villagers in arms and provide them with guns so that they can hold Maoist threats off until the cavalry arrives.

For this mission, entire IB needs to focus ONLY and ONLY on Maoists; notice their pattern of spreading propaganda of guarding their hideouts, of training their terrorists, track their phone calls, monitoring their website which is STILL accessible in India.

The story neither began with Kishenji nor would end with him. Naxalism is a violent movement as is a common characteristic of Communism to brutally takeover the governments and spread terror. If terror is not fought with terror, we'd lose.

Both Army and IAF know that this is not 1940s where large columns of human chains of soldiers and tanks would come running towards Maoists. This is where military satellite intelligence and arming special forces to teeth for such missions comes to play.

small bands of heavily protected and armed commandos storming Maoist hideouts based on satellite data. If our satellite system is not ready yet, ask Israelis for temporary access to finish this mission. In order to stop Communist propaganda for spreading, censor media further so that idiotic so-called intellectuals don't cheat the nation and put burden on our soldiers' already tense jobs.

Naxalites can be taken out only in an emergency-like environment otherwise this incompetent and corrupt band of babus have had it. The media power our scum of Congress politicians spend on blaming BJP and communalizing every issue (Sohrabuddin case is an example), they should spend that money in getting the media to create awareness of Maoists. Show common Indians the videos of things like Tiananmen Square etc, the same principles that Naxalites draw their power from.

Until and unless heavy media awareness, censorship where needed, and heavy firepower is not used, it will become very difficult in the future.

 

[Moorkh]

involving the army is not the solution to the naxalite problem.

you can look at it in several ways. firstly soldiers shoot to kill. the maoists are not foreigners. they are indian citizens asking for a different way of governance through unlawful means. they surely need to be punished for breaking the law, but waging war is uncalled for. the army might if involved be able to rack up impressive kill ratios. however that will not get rid of the maoists. more will rise from where the current crop came from. a more effective process is to better train the police forces to tackle the naxalites and at the same time invest into the underdeveloped areas so that people dont have a reason to join the naxalites. this will not only get rid of our problem but also generate greater confidence among the people towards state agencies other than the army.

then there are a lot of legal(constitutional) hassles involved. the army by definition is supposed to defend the country from external aggression. using the army against our own people is unconstitutional in a sense.

also i am not sure the army is willing to take up the fight against the maoists. had the maoists been organised like a conventional army, the army would have been more effective. but the maoists are scattered all over the place. its more of a policing(law and order) job which the paramilitary forces should handle.

 

[dingyibvs]

A multi-hour long "gun battle" involving hundreds of police/rebels resulted in perhaps 1 casualty on both sides?

 

[COLDHEARTED AVIATOR]

I want to ask Lt. PRATEEK sir why the hell is IA so scared of taking up the combat between us and Maoists who're like Taliban of India? Are they afraid of massacring terrorists?

The clear lack of initiative from the Army shows the professional standing of the top brass generals. Either some of them are possibly involved covertly or I don't know what. Maoism won't last more than 3-4 months (involving in about killing 8-10,000 terrorists brutally) with Army's full might behind it.

Firstly,you have to understand that the Army is already to streached in its duties.The Army is fighting from Kashmir to North-East.Cant we expect the Para military or Police to fight one war or are they good for nothing???

Secondly,dont be so emotional.I am 100% sure that even if the Army is called this war wont end in three months.

Thirdly,the reason why Army is avoiding getting into this is coz the Army is too streched and secondly it doesnt want to fight its owm people.Many soldiers of the Army come from the naxal regions.

And lastly...comparing Naxals to Taliban is shear ignorance on your part coz either you dont know the ideology of Naxals or either you dont read news what Taliban does..i am not supporting Naxals but comparing them to Taliban is not correct.

We buy gadgets but we don't freakin' use them. What's the Army for? Cheerleading at Wagah border?

I dont know which Wagah you have been to but i never saw Army at Wagah border..its your BSF.

 

[Dash]

I want to ask Lt. PRATEEK sir why the hell is IA so scared of taking up the combat between us and Maoists who're like Taliban of India? Are they afraid of massacring terrorists?

The clear lack of initiative from the Army shows the professional standing of the top brass generals. Either some of them are possibly involved covertly or I don't know what. Maoism won't last more than 3-4 months (involving in about killing 8-10,000 terrorists brutally) with Army's full might behind it.

We buy gadgets but we don't freakin' use them. What's the Army for? Cheerleading at Wagah border?

Thuis is a an internal LAW and ORDER situation. Army is not involed in this situation....

Dont worry we will take them out when the actual time comes.

 

[CONNAN]

the dead tango

 

[su-47]

involving the army is not the solution to the naxalite problem.

you can look at it in several ways. firstly soldiers shoot to kill. the maoists are not foreigners. they are indian citizens asking for a different way of governance through unlawful means. they surely need to be punished for breaking the law, but waging war is uncalled for. the army might if involved be able to rack up impressive kill ratios. however that will not get rid of the maoists. more will rise from where the current crop came from. a more effective process is to better train the police forces to tackle the naxalites and at the same time invest into the underdeveloped areas so that people dont have a reason to join the naxalites. this will not only get rid of our problem but also generate greater confidence among the people towards state agencies other than the army.

then there are a lot of legal(constitutional) hassles involved. the army by definition is supposed to defend the country from external aggression. using the army against our own people is unconstitutional in a sense.

also i am not sure the army is willing to take up the fight against the maoists. had the maoists been organised like a conventional army, the army would have been more effective. but the maoists are scattered all over the place. its more of a policing(law and order) job which the paramilitary forces should handle.

the army need not be brought in, but the police is clearly not doing the job well. what we need is something in the effect of a SWAT team. Well trained and well-equipped police forces that will simply outmaneuver and outgun Maoists with superior training and equipment.

tackling Maoists should be a two-pronged startegy. on one hand we use rapid development of tribal areas, incentives to surrendering maoists etc to erode maoists base. and on the other hand, use brute force and the 'language of the gun' to systematically eradicate the scum who refuse to cooperate.

we have everything we need to eradicate maoism from india for good. all we need now is the catalyst that will make it happen - political will.