India: New Casualties of the Indian State in Chhattisgarh and Manipur

Banner of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) in Narayanpur, Chhattisgarh. Source: The Organiser

Chhattisgarh

In the last ten days, there were multiple actions against the Indian State in Chhattisgarh, with several casualties among policemen, agents and collaborators of the State. We have reported on actions there before.

On 14^th of June members of the CPI (Maoist) put up some banners and distributed leaflets in the village of Besmeta, district of Narayanpur, against a new mine in the area. Also the Maoists informed about the devastating consequences of this mine for the environment and hold the sarpanch and the uta-sarpanch of the village accountable for it [Author’s note: local authorities elected in the villages].

In two different actions, it was reported that three policemen of the Indian State were injured and one killed by Maoist guerrilla members: the first of the actions on 17^th of June took place in the district of Kanker, where an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) exploded and injured three policemen who were at training. The injured policemen were part of a police school for Counter Terrorism and Jungle Warfare (CTJW). On Monday, 19^th of June, a General Police Inspector was eliminated in the district of Bastar.

Besides these casualties, a police collaborator was eliminated at 3am on Tuesday, 20^th of June, at district of Bijapur. The Maoists left on the body a leaflet explaining that the killed man was a police collaborator. Also a former sarpanch of the village of Ilmidi Kasaram Para was eliminated, who also was an active anti-Maoist and member of the Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP, party who rules the Indian State, and which leader is Narendra Modi] and was collaborating since 2014 in activities against the CPI(Maoist).

Manipur

There are also reports of numerous actions and new casualties of the Indian State in Manipur. We have reported on this struggle before. In Manipur, there were several simultaneous gunfights on the 20^th of June, made with automatic weapons. After these gunfights, other arson and several incidents during the week, the Internet ban was extended until 25^th of June. The ban has been ongoing since 4^th of May and has been extended multiple times.

On the afternoon of Wednesday, 21^st of June, there was an explosion of an IED in the district of Bishnupur, with two injured policemen. There was another action on the early morning of Thursday, 22^nd of June: there was a gunfight in the Imphal West district, and another two policemen were reported injured. This action against the police, was carried out with one rifle and a machine gun INSAS, Indian weapons looted in the previous weeks. Then, during yesterday there were reportedly marches and gunshots of armed groups in the districts of Imphal East and Kangpokpi. The Indian Army have been mobilized and sent to these places.