As naxal violence grips the first phase of the Chhattisgarh assembly polls, targeting polling agents and security forces, intelligence inputs reveal that the action is being coordinated by the Dandakaranya special zonal committee (DKSZC) of the central regional bureau of the CPI(Maoist), which continues to be the biggest naxal stronghold and shelter zone of the Maoist brass.
The DKSZC encompasses a vast area of hilly terrain and thick forest that continues to shelter a significant number of central committee members. Almost 80 per cent of central committee members are stationed in Dandakaranya zone ,which has turned out to be a functionally compact zone administratively for the Maoists. This area also has been earmarked by the government as the last stronghold of the Maoists after facing losses in other parts of the country.
However, security officials said the recent attacks and threats to the election process in Chhattisgarh have demonstrated the Maoists’ strength and tactics where they are using the “jan militia” predominantly in the vast Bastar region, where villagers are being used as “buffer force” by senior armed cadres.
As per estimates, nearly 10,000 villagers work as militia in the entire DKSZC. They are engaged in planting spikes and IEDs, road trenching and carrying out other destructive works.
Sources said these militia platoons and companies are more active in areas where the civil administration is weak and pave way for recruitment of the villagers. In turn, the Maoists carry out some activities round the year like distributing seeds, fertilisers and digging wells to win the hearts of the tribals.
The administrative vacuum in Danadakaranya zone has been a problem area for the Union Home Ministry for several years, even as Maoists claim they have established more than 100 revolutionary people’s committees in their guerrilla base areas.
What is alarming is that these areas are now serving as a base for other state committees of the CPI(Maoist) like the Telangana state committee and Andhra - Odisha border special zonal committee to plan attacks and unleash violence in other states as well.
The concentration of all native leaders and leaders from other state committees, along with their residual force in Dandakaranaya, has made the fighting force of the banned outfit a headache for security forces.