From Our Correspondent
Guwahati: Maoists have been active in various pockets in nine of the districts in Assam.
Informing this Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Thursday stated that his government was concerned over growing Maoists activities in the State though it was yet to reach an alarming proportion.
He told media here that Maoists elements were active in various areas under 35 police stations spread over nine of the districts in the state — Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat, Cachar and Karimganj.
“We are concerned over Maoists activities in the state and have been keeping a close tab on them since 2006. Our sustained vigil has failed the Maoists elements to set up a statewide base so far though they have become active in certain pockets in nine of the districts of the State,” Gogoi said.
He informed that Assam police had so far arrested 58 Maoists leaders/activists in the State including a few central committee leaders while four Maoists leaders had been killed in encounter with police in the State.
He said his government was trying to create as much job avenues as possible and take measures to alleviate poverty so that Maoists design to woo the deprived section of the people did not succeed.
“To help the poor is not the policy of only Maoists but also of ruling Congress in Assam. We will defeat the Maoists in their own game through our all encompassing development strategy,” Gogoi added.
The recent arrests of several CPI (Maoist) cadres in the state have not only put the security forces on alert, but has also revealed that the Red rebels managed to create a base in six districts of the state with at least 150 people willing to follow them.
The revelation came to the fore after veteran CPI (Maoist) leader Anukul Chandra Naskar alias Pareshda and his wife, Kabita, were arrested earlier this month. They revealed that the Maoists are expanding their base in the char areas too. “The char areas of Dhubri district bordering West Bengal and forest areas are the new targets of Red rebels,” ,” said IGP central western range of Assam Police L R Bishnoi.