Loss of cadre base, fear of losing ground to police the trigger

Cell phone connectivity has become a bone of contention between security forces and the banned CPI(Maoist) in the Visakhapatnam Agency.

While security forces want a strong network as it will give them an edge in vulnerable areas, the Maoists are opposed to it and have been targeting the towers, especially during the PLGA Week which is being observed since 2000 from December 2 to 8. The extremists damaged one such tower at Darakonda in October last year.

Ever since BSNL has made some inroads into tribal areas, there has been a significant drop in recruitment, especially at the militia level.

According to a senior police officer, militia members are normally picked from the villages and they mainly provide logistic support, act as key recruitment agents, information providers and crowd mobilisers for meetings.

Cadre base erosion

But after the advent of mobiles phones in the Agency, awareness on various issues, including government schemes, has increased, and today, almost all tribal youth, especially in habitations close to main roads, have smartphones.

Chatting, browsing, and even surfing porn sites consumes quite an amount of their time, said a police inspector attached to a station in a Maoist-affected area.

“They do not have time for attending Maoist meetings and because of this there has been a major drop in recruitment and Maoists are now forced to depend on Guthi Koyas from Chhattisgarh,” said Vizag Superintendent of Police Attada Babujee.

According to a surrendered Maoist, the higher-ups in the outfit are a worried lot and instructions have gone out to the cadre to scuttle expansion of the network by all means.

The Maoists feel that while the cell network facilitates easy communication, it may also give away their location. Security forces can keep in touch with informants planted deep in the forest, which the Maoist do not want to happen, say surrendered Maoists.

In the Visakhapatnam Agency, there are about 30 cell towers covering , each serving a radius of about 7 km.

Under the Tribal Sub-Plan, the Ministry of Home Affairs has sanctioned about 53 towers in the extremist-hit areas of A.P. of which 12 will be set up in the Vizag Agency.

BSNL, the main operator, chooses areas close to police stations or outposts such as Rudakota (Pedabayalu mandal) and Rallagedda (Chintapalle Mandal) where security is high.