Ringed Red Theatre

Unlike other parts of the country, West Midnapore district has largely been spared the drought. The forests surrounding the CRPF camps are green. On condition of anonymity, the commander of one of the first battalions to enter Lalgarh in June and wrest large areas from Maoist control told Outlook, “It’s a question of weeks. By October-November, another offensive will be launched. The strategy has evolved based on the experience of the last couple of months.” He refused to give details for security reasons but said there would be “tactical changes”.

The crucial difference between the June offensive and the one planned, police and paramilitary officers in Lalgarh say, is that the forces have managed to put in place an intelligence network. Not only are the forces now able to gather intelligence through electronic surveillance—towers have been erected to monitor mobile phone traffic in the region—they have also roped in locals to provide crucial ground-level inputs.

A few weeks after Operation Lalgarh was launched, there was a lull in Maoist activity in Jangalmahal, and they were believed to have fled to the jungles near Jharkhand. But in the last couple of weeks, political killings attributed to Maoists—and for which, in several instances, they have claimed responsibility—has gone up. Midnapore district magistrate N.S. Nigam admitted that there has been a spurt in killings by the Maoists—“no less than five in just two weeks”—and that some of the killings the Maoists haven’t taken responsibility for could also have, in fact, been carried out by them.

Maoist leaders themselves say they are in fact acting against “a new breed of police informers”, mostly CPI(M) workers and supporters. “We aren’t killing them indiscriminately,” says wanted Maoist chief Koteshwar Rao, aka Kishenji, in a telephone interview to Outlook. “We’re only acting against those who are working against us by going to the police. And we don’t deliver justice on our own. We do it legally. We hold a court and a jury of villagers decides on the verdict. It’s with their consent that we kill the informers.”

After the murder of two CPI(M) workers two weeks ago, the following sms, signed off by Maoist leader Bikas, was sent to journalists: “We are taking responsibility for what has happened in Belpahari. Rampada was a police agent and Manik was a police informer.” Another sms, after the murder of yet another CPI(M) leader in Lalgarh, read: “Last night we delivered ultimate justice to CPI(M) leader Shanker Adikari of Chilgoragram. Ever since the arrival of the joint forces, the police camps had become his favourite haunt. He was also heavily into exploitation and torture. Therefore, after taking public consent, we have got rid of him.”

According to the security forces, the villagers live in terror of rubbing the Maoists the wrong way. A battalion commander says, “We have been able to instil some sense of security in them.” He dismisses criticism of the presence of the joint forces in the area, saying, “The Maoists dictate terms to them. They have to obey or they are killed. If they tell them to fell trees and block the roads, they’d better do it. If they force them to attend their rallies and meetings, they’d better comply.”

Ask the villagers and they say little. “I don’t want to comment,” an old man in Lalgarh says, looking around. “If I say anything I will be killed.” But the Maoists point out that it’s the security forces that have put terror in people’s hearts. This finds corroboration in some voices from the villages. Shukumuli Nandi, a woman working in a paddy field in Sukhi Shol village in Lalgarh, reluctantly comments, “We women are really afraid of the police. Wouldn’t you be afraid too? They come into our houses in the night and start searching. We are petrified. We are scared for our sisters and our daughters.”

Caught between the security forces and the Maoists, thousands of villagers like Shukumuli simply do not know whom to trust and whom to turn to.