Four Naxals Arrested In Jharkhand

Four alleged Naxals were arrested today in Jharkhand's Simdega district and arms and ammunition recovered from their possession, police said.

Upon receiving specific information, the police carried out a raid in the district and arrested four members of a Naxal organisation called 'Pahari Cheetah' and recovered arms and ammunition from them, Simdega SP Anup Birthera told PTI.

The four arrested persons have been identified as Sanjay Gop, Praksh Sahu, Deepak Nayak and Lakhan Sharma, he said, adding that a 9mm pistol, a dozen bullets and large amounts of explosives were seized from them.

Naxals Training To Counter IAF

The People’s Liberation Guerilla Army of the Maoists is training its cadres to counter aerial attacks in the event of air strikes by the Indian Air Force. Sources said that the Maoists are also planning to carry out strikes on airports. The Special Intelligence Branch of the anti-Naxal agency of AP police had recently seized key documents and sketches with details of how Maoists will defend air attacks and capture airports.

Though the defence ministry didn’t agree to conduct air strikes on Naxal bastions, the Maoists are preparing their cadres for a counter offensive, anticipating aerial strikes. The syllabus for military training of Maoist cadres is being revamped. A manual, titled Guerrilla Air Defence written by the central military commissioner and senior Maoist Tipparthi Tirupati, alias ‘Devji’ of AP, has been introduced into the Maoist syllabus. This syllabus includes instructions on how to kill air force commandos while they climb down during air drops from choppers.Sources in the state police headquarters say that the Maoists are a step ahead in combat strategies.

“At present, choppers are used to drop the troops near jungles where there is specific information about Maoist movements. Greyhound forces are often airlifted and dropped at the Andhra-Orissa border. The Maoists now are being trained in how to attack the forces while they are dropping. This is extremely dangerous, particularly when we shift injured personnel using choppers. There were earlier instances when the Maoists used LMGs to fire at and kill co-pilots. They have huge man-made rocket launchers to attack choppers,” said a senior police official.

The Maoists’ aerial syllabus included concealment from helicopter movements, dispersion techniques, aiming at aircraft using LMGs, small weapons, making fir walls against choppers, using anti- aircraft mounts, reference point fire. It also describes how choppers and aircraft work. The key document seized by the SIB is one in which Maoists say, “We have to increase recruitment into PLGA on a large scale. We have to give training to PLGA, militia and others on a wide scale by preparing a higher-level training syllabus to face air attacks of the Indian Air Force.”

Army Puts on Hold Training of Troops in Chatisgarh Base

As it awaits the framing of Rules of Engagement (RoE) by the Government on engaging Maoists, Army has put on hold training of its troops at its bases in Chhattisgrah set up recently in the naxal-infested areas.
The Army has set up a a Battle Maneuver Range and a Special Forces Training Centre in Bastar District, which is considered to be a hotbed of naxals.

"We are waiting for the Government to provide us guidelines for dealing with the Naxals in that area. The guidelines would be framed by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and after that, they would be provided to the Army," Army sources said here.

The Army had sought the Rules of Engagements (RoEs) from the Government to deal with situations where its troops come under attack from naxals in the state.

The training of troops in the Abujhmarh area, which is the hotbed of terrorists, they said, would start as soon as the guidelines are provided to it.

The Army had sought the Rules of Engagement (RoE) looking at a situation where somebody tries to instigate it by trying to foray into these training areas.

"All that we are asking is what happens if we are fired at and we fire back. How do you legally cover our people? We all should know what are the do's and don'ts. There is a need for clarification on this," Army chief General V K Singh had said.The Army chief had said his force didn't require outside protection for its bases and it would be done by its own troops only.

He said for the legal cover required for the troops to be deployed in the region, the Army is "not looking at AFSPA as we don't want to and will not operate in those areas. We are only looking at training into the areas earmarked and the base there."
A couple of years ago, after Maoists fired at IAF helicopters in Chhattisgarh, government had allowed it to fire back at Naxalites in case of an attack.