However, most of these fatalities are clubbed with the rebels, and the Army and the Home Ministry recordsindicate that, of the 4,366 killed in the current phase of escalated conflict, till October 2002, 4,050 were'Maoists'. This reflects an enormous rise in violence, with some 2,700 people killed over the preceding fiveyears (1996-2001). Killings have risen sharply since the Emergency was declared in November 2001, and it iscertainly difficult, if not impossible, to positively identify each person killed on the Maoist side as a'terrorist'.
The Maoists have also engaged in over 1,000 deliberate and targeted killings till the middle of January 2003,describing their victims as 'enemies of the revolution'. Taking hostages for ransom, torture, long periods ofdetention, and kidnappings for coercive recruitment into the Maoist Militia, have forced young villagers toflee their homes, creating yet another crisis of displacement among the people.