CPI (Maoist) rank 12 in terror index: Why you should never take your eyes of their urban friends

There has been a steady decline in the number of violent incidents concerning the naxalites. However it is never a good option to keep your eyes of them.

The Communist Party of India (Maoist) has been ranked 12th among the 20 deadliest terrorist groups of 2022.

It ranks along with the likes of the Al-Qaeda, Islamic State and Boko Haram.

According to the 2023 Global Terrorism Index (GTI) published by the Sidney headquartered Institute for Economics and Peace, the CPI (Maoist) ranks 12 among the 20 deadliest terror groups, with a count of 39 deaths, 61 attacks and 30 injuries.

This is not the first time that the CPI (Maoist) has made it to the list. In a 2017 report a report prepared by the United States of America had said that the naxal group is the deadliest terror outfit in India. The report had said that that this group is only behind the Taliban, Islamic State and Boko Haram.

While there has been a significant drop in the number of terror incidents involving naxalites, the heat has been maintained to ensure that they do not manage to revamp.

The Indian security agencies have tackled the problem in a multi-pronged fashion. Security forces on the ground, enforcement agencies blocking their funding were all tactics that were adopted. However the biggest problem that came to the fold was their brains which were operating from Urban India. This case went on to be popularly known as the Urban Naxal case.

To tackle these naxalites in the jungles, the Intelligence Bureau had gone into the depth of the problem and tracked how they manage to raise funds and operate. An official tells OneIndia that the naxalites fighting in the jungles get funds courtesy their friends in the urban areas. The Intelligence Bureau had identified the Surat-Pune corridor, Bengaluru, Coimbatore and Kolkata to be the epicentre of the urban naxal problem. Many organisations had come up in these belts and were instrumental in spreading the ideology and also collecting funds, which were later on moved to the jungles.

In the urban areas, the naxalites were operating mainly through NGOs. The tightening of the foreign funding norms saw them getting desperate and hence violent protests were organised and false narratives agains the security agencies were spread.

While statistics show that the naxalite movement is down, it is never a good time to write them off. On an earlier date, former chief of the Research and Analysis Wing, C D Sahay and told this correspondent that writing them off is not an option and it is never a good idea to become complacent.

In 2022, the MHA in a report had said that the resolute implementation of the national policy and action plan led to a 55 per cent reduction in in violent incidents perpetrated by the naxalites. The annual report for 2021-22 said that there has been an overall 55 per cent decrease in the number of violent incidents involving the naxalites.

"Resolute implementation of the national policy and action plan by the government has resulted in unprecedented improvement in the Left Wing Extremism scenario across the country, the report said.