Maoists raise Rs. 140-250 crore a year through extortion, protection racket

[Ayush]

Maoists raise Rs 140-250 crore a year through extortion, protection rackets - Hindustan Times


Maoists raise Rs. 140-250 crore a year through extortion, protection rackets
Aloke Tikku, Hindustan Times New Delhi,

They wield influence in nearly 203 of India’s 708 police districts, routinely kill people and policemen in 90 districts, often have the last word in 27 of them, hope to lead a revolution and — by 2050, according to one account — overthrow the Indian State.

So how does the Communist Party of India (Maoist) find the money to keep the fire burning for the revolution?

A government-commissioned study concluded this month has told the home ministry that Maoists generate at least Rs. 140 crore annually from extortion rackets that target businesses — big and small — industry, contractors executing public works, corrupt government officials and political leaders.

“The largest and principal sources of income for the Maoists are the mining industry, public works and collection of tendu leaves,” the study says.

Police officer ML Meena has seen some of it first-hand.

In January this year, Meena, inspector general of police, Bokaro Range in Jharkhand, ordered a crackdown on trucks carrying coal from illegal mines in remote parts under his charge. In at least one instance, local policemen were also penalised for their brazen collusion with the coal mafia.

“Illegal mining is a key source of income for the Maoists,” said Meena, conceding that it was difficult — if not impossible — to put a figure on the size of the annual Maoist budget.

In 2010, the Intelligence Bureau came up with a much larger all-India estimate of Rs. 1,500 crore.


A year earlier, former Chhattisgarh police chief Vishwaranjan guesstimated that the Maoist budget was closer to Rs. 2,000 crore while chief minister Raman Singh recently put it at Rs. 1,000-1,200 crore.

A senior government official associated with anti-Maoist operations suggested much of this was an exaggeration and that the actual amount could hover between Rs. 140 crore and Rs. 250 crore.
[​IMG]
Researchers at the security think-tank Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses — that conducted the study — tried to unravel some of the mystery surrounding Maoist finances.

The Central Committee of the CPI (Maoist) fixes the annual amount to be collected at an all-India level in consultation with various levels. The zonal committee then conveys the decision on the amount to be collected from each source.

In mineral-rich Jharkhand — one of the biggest sources of funds for the rebels — police officers have noticed that Maoists generally collect 7% as levy from all development works from contractors in the areas under their dominance.

A similar figure — 7-10% levy — is cited as the rate for industrial and mining companies.

Often, the armed guerrillas don’t need to come into the picture at all.

“Usually, an over-ground member of the outfit is deputed to collect the money,” the study says. Each level retains some amount for its expenses, before sending its collections to the next higher level.

Home ministry officials in Delhi — that has been struggling to come up with ways to block the flow of funds to the Maoists — concede that choking the Maoists’ extortion industry is a big challenge for the security establishment.

So it was no surprise that when the chief ministers of Maoist-affected states met in June, this was one of the key points of discussion.

“It may be difficult to completely cut off their supply of funds but it is possible to curb the flow,” said the IDSA’s PV Ramana. This will be a very important element in the counter-Maoist action plan.

With inputs from Ranchi, Patna and Raipur

 

[Ayush]

enough to sustain a fight versus CRPF.. time for army to step in.. we need to put a full stop to this menace..

 

[bloo]

holy frick, military intervention aside GOI need to attack them where it hurts the most, i.e. their pockets.

 

[Ayush]

holy frick, military intervention aside GOI need to attack them where it hurts the most, i.e. their pockets.

And for that, they will have take complete control of the maoist areas, for which military intervention will be needed

 

[arihant]

Stop mining inside Maoist belt. No mining no protection money...

 

[Tshering22]

Stop mining inside Maoist belt. No mining no protection money...

And where do you get your resources out of and run your economy?

Maoist belts have some of the richest resources in the country.

Army has to step in now after so many years of compromise.

Time to haul in tanks and gunships.

 

[Parul]

India has been molly coddling the Maoists for too long. We keep repeating inanities like "They are our people" or "They are misguided youth". The truth is that these guys are interested in the violent overthrow of the state. No communist state has been democratic and none have had any semblance of human rights and freedoms. They must be dealt with firmly.

 

[livingdead]

enough to sustain a fight versus CRPF.. time for army to step in.. we need to put a full stop to this menace..

army will be completely clueless, will kill a bunch of people and will not be able to extract themselves afterwards.. state police and CRPF are better org to deal with them.

 

[T90TankGuy]

What is need is better intelligence, not the armys involvement . what is also needed is development in these tribal areas.

 

[JanjaWeed]

Insurgency is a thriving business, wherever it happens... & keeping the business going takes priority over anything else. Cause & ideology is nothing but mere excuse...

 

[dray]

1. Make a Centralized command for all operations against Maoists across all states. Increase local intelligence.
2. Increase paramilitary personnel with better equipment like lots of anti-mine vehicles, night-vision, helicopters, & preferably UAVs with infrared cameras for better monitoring.
3. Strike and finish the top & middle leadership quickly; don't allow them time to regroup.
4. Cut-off any source of foreign fund & weapons. Increase police presence in Maoist areas to protect people from extortion.
5. Jail any politician or political party found to be helping the Maoists.
6. Restrict movement of media & human rights people in these areas, let the paramilitary forces work, Maoists don't deserve any sympathy. It’s time to treat this as a war against the country.
7. Most importantly, instead of eating up the money, Govt. should really focus on improving the living conditions of people in these areas. We really need to work there.

 

[janon]

...
Time to haul in tanks and gunships.

Neither of which will work in thick forests and through dense foliage, which is where all their cadres train and live.

The only way to kill them is to have better trained riflemen for the government side, and the intel network to track and hunt them. Sorry, but this is not the sort of war that can be won easily by pressing a few buttons in fancy helicopters or tanks. Only the good old difficult way, of riflemen with boots on the ground will work. It will take time and patience as well. We may not like that, but that's how it is.

 

[Kiss_of_the_Dragon]

1. Make a Centralized command for all operations against Maoists across all states. Increase local intelligence.
2. Increase paramilitary personnel with better equipment like lots of anti-mine vehicles, night-vision, helicopters, & preferably UAVs with infrared cameras for better monitoring.
3. Strike and finish the top & middle leadership quickly; don't allow them time to regroup.
4. Cut-off any source of foreign fund & weapons. Increase police presence in Maoist areas to protect people from extortion.
5. Jail any politician or political party found to be helping the Maoists.
6. Restrict movement of media & human rights people in these areas, let the paramilitary forces work, Maoists don't deserve any sympathy. It’s time to treat this as a war against the country.
7. Most importantly, instead of eating up the money, Govt. should really focus on improving the living conditions of people in these areas. We really need to work there.

Too classic your 7 points, Maoists might not fight for communist Ideal but certainly they knew the tactict used by Chinese, Vietnamese to deal with KMT and south Vietnamese gorvernment...Indian will never able to eradicated this hit and run enemies especially they're well blended and conceal into Indian society.

 

[janon]

Too classic your 7 points, Maoists might not fight for communist Ideal but certainly they knew the tactict used by Chinese, Vietnamese to deal with KMT and south Vietnamese gorvernment...Indian will never able to eradicated this hit and run enemies especially they're well blended and conceal into Indian society.

And that's where you are wrong. Yes they conceal themselves, but they don't blend into the general population, and they don't have the same kind of support among the masses that the Chinese communists did. The maoist in India live in jungles and tribal belts, and not among the urban centres (cities) or rural countryside (villages). So yes, they can do hit and run attacks once in a while, but they cannot overthrow the Indian govt or even a state govt. They have neither the numbers, nor the resources, nor the societal support for that sort of endeavor. They are not comparable to the communists in China, or the Taliban in afgh-pakistan, since in both those cases, they were/are a large movement with ideological sympathy from a significant part of the population. That is why, despite waging a war since 1969, the Indian maoists have made marginal (actually zero) gains, other than killing a lot of people and getting killed.

And yes, the Indian govt can eradicate them if they go about it in the right way. Whether they will or not, I don't know. But to portray hit and run attackers as some sort of indefatigable, unconquerable enemy is giving them a lot more credit than they deserve.

 

[dray]

Too classic your 7 points, Maoists might not fight for communist Ideal but certainly they knew the tactict used by Chinese, Vietnamese to deal with KMT and south Vietnamese gorvernment...Indian will never able to eradicated this hit and run enemies especially they're well blended and conceal into Indian society.

Don't worry; we have enough expertise in these kinds of fighting tactics and were successful in many previous occasions. Right now our Govt. is a bit soft on them, but when the decision will be made to eradicate them; they will be eradicated.