The lockdown seems to have impacted Maoists too. A group of extremists is reported to be stranded in the forests of erstwhile composite Adilabad district, not able to return to their neighbouring Maharashtra thanks to the increased vigil on the inter-state borders owing to containment operations for COVID-19.
According to information that The Hindu pieced together, the Communist Party of India (Maoist) at Gadchiroli in Maharashtra and beyond in the Dandakaranya region is in the throes of a churning as local cadres and leaders are opposing the hegemony of the seniors hailing from Telangana. Under pressure to prove the banned organisation’s existence in their own backyard, north Telangana region, the ageing leadership sent an estimated nine to 12 armed cadres into old united Adilabad via the familiar Pranahita crossing points.
Police in Kumram Bheem Asifabad and Mancherial districts had sounded an alert through a press release as early as March 13 when the concept of lockdown was unheard of. The naxalites apparently moved into the forests of Tiryani, Kawal, Kadem-Khanapur and Sirikonda, since then without perhaps realising that the situation outside the jungles had changed drastically.
Sources say, the Maoist campaigner in his mid fifties, Mylarapu Adellu alias Bhaskar, hailing from old Adilabad district, had led the group of naxalites into this and left soon enough leaving them to revive old contacts. This group, nevertheless, failed to impress the villagers living deep inside the forests, sources added.
According to information, the extremists have come with an intention of recruiting youth, especially aboriginal people into their ranks. There are no consequent reports of the Maoists having succeeded in their task.
On the contrary, the armed outlaws are finding it difficult to enter the tribal habitations seeking food and shelter as entrances to villages have been sealed. At best, they are accosting goatherds or the farmers who are in the fields protecting their crops during the day.
“We are going ahead with our regular area domination operations in forests,” asserted Adilabad SP Vishnu S. Warrier, also the in-charge SP of KB Asifabad. It means that vigil on borders will also not be relaxed in the near future, lockdown or no lockdown, a police officer said.
