The killing of tribal people after branding them as police informers and the harassment and suppression of the Dalam members hailing from various tribal groups are the prime reasons behind the Maoists losing base in Andhra Pradesh and the neighbouring States, said Andhra Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) K.V. Rajendranath Reddy.
“The efforts of the Andhra Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee [AOBSZC] of the CPI (Maoist) to convert the cut-off area into a guerrilla war zone have fallen flat,” he said.
“At present, there are 48 members of the Andhra Pradesh cadre in the CPI (Maoist). While 18 of them are in Andhra Pradesh, the remaining are working at various levels in Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Telangana,” Mr. Reddy told The Hindu.
Mr. Reddy further said that the Maoists who had surrendered in the last few months admitted that the ideology of the CPI (Maoist) was fast fading and that many tribal leaders and Dalam members left the movement due to the “stepmotherly treatment and harassment by the leaders of the upper caste”.
A surrendered Maoist had said he joined the movement as Adivasis were being suppressed, but was bewildered on seeing the exploitation of the tribal people by the CPI (Maoist).
Top Maoist leaders such as Chikkudu Chinna Rao, Jalandhar Reddy and Killo Raju, who had surrendered, confirmed that tribal Dalam members were being harassed by the upper caste leaders in the party.
In the last year, the strength of the Maoists declined from 100 to about 50. The People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA), an armed wing of the CPI (Maoist), had fallen silent due to a decline in its cadre.
“In 2019, there were eight Area Committees — Kalimela, Nandapur, Coffee Dalam, Narayanpatna, Gumma, Galikonda, Pedabayalu and Boipariguda. But only four exist now. Only two divisional committees — Visakha East and Malkangiri-Koraput — are active on the borders,” the DGP said.
“Due to intensified combing operation, six important members, including two DCMs and two ACMs died in an exchange of fire. About 42 Maoists were arrested and 17 had surrendered in the last one year,” Mr. Reddy added.
