Jharkhand pilferage case shows how naxals are trying to infiltrate armed forces

The investigation showed that the arms were procured from bordering areas of Burahanapur district of Madhya Pradesh and the Buldhana district of Maharashtra.

New Delhi, May 13: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a chargesheet against 11 accused persons in a case pertaining to pilferage of arms and ammunition and supply to terrorist organisations in Jharkhand.

The NIA said that arms and ammunition had been supplied to the cadres of the CPI (Maoists) and a gang led by one Aman Sahu. The NIA learnt that the the ammunition of various caliber were pilfered from a magazine of the Border Security Force (BSF) by one Kartik Behera.

Behera a head constable with the BSF was arrested for supplying arms to the naxalites and other extremist organisations. He is alleged to be the kingpin of the syndicate that supplied arms and ammunition to naxals and other organised gangs.

At the time of his arrest he was posted at the BSF 116 Battalion of Firozpur, Punjab. He was in charge of the armoury of the battalion. The police recovered a total of 8,304 cartridges from him at the time of his arrest.

The investigation showed that the arms were procured from bordering areas of Burahanapur district of Madhya Pradesh and the Buldhana district of Maharashtra.

Prior to this the Jharkhand ATS had also arrested a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan Avinash Kumar and two others on the charge that they were supplying arms to naxalites. The probe led to another jawan, of the BSF Arun Kumar Singh who has retired from the force. It was learnt that Singh had taken voluntary retirement and had come in contact with the people associated with the syndicate.

A 53 page document titled,"CPI (Maoist)-Urban Perspective," prepared by Govindan Kutty details the plan on how naxals with the help of their friends in the urban areas planned on infiltrating into the police, para-military forces and Army.

There are numerous ways through which the urban movement can assist the rural armed struggle and particularly, the base areas and the guerilla zones. Some involve direct and immediate help in terms of materials and personnel; others involve the long-term preparation for the decisive battles in the later stages of the peoples' war, the document reads.

The document states, "It is very important to penetrate into the military, para-military forces, police, and higher levels of the administrative machinery of the state. It is necessary to obtain information regarding the enemy, to build support for the revolution within these organs, and even to incite revolt when the time is ripe. Other types of technical help are also possible."

"The cities are the strongholds of the enemy and have a large concentration of enemy forces. It is therefore from the cities that attention must be given to this task. Such work can be done by following up contacts obtained from the civilian sphere, or by directly allocating comrades to penetrate the enemy ranks."

"We should make use of opportunities for entry into the police, para military and military forces. We should very secretly follow up contacts of those already within these forces. Where possible we should enter into them from outside. Such work should be guided directly by the higher committees without informing the local bodies," the document reads.