People's Democracy

Maoist Killer Boasts Of His Extortionist Skills

IN his latest confession to the police ? the criminal  appears relaxed, and proud of his misdeeds, more-and-more, perhaps realising that he would never be physically harmed during his captivity ? the captured Maoist ?Somen? spoke about the massive funding that his outfit of gangsters enjoyed in Bengal ? as they went about killing CPI(M) workers. His personal expenses -- ?these are the expenses of the [nearly non-existent] Maoist state committee? is of course a euphemism -- ran to Rs six lakhs per month.  How much did he get from his ?central committee??  The answer was Rs 1.6 lakh per month. 

The answer to the unavoidable follow up question that sought to probe the gap between his income and what he got from his central committee, has to be looked for an answer amidst the myriads of the rural poor who eke out a life of misery in the hard soil of western Bengal by either raising some forms of coarse paddy and millet, or developing jagged palms by continually twisting the babui grass into ropes - and among the contractors who are deployed by the PWD to build roads and bridges and culverts and tourist bungalows.

EXTORTION

Extortion has been developed into a well-honed weapon by the Maoist masochists. A group of men and women in military fatigue would approach the intended victims. They would flash fake ?ID? cards describing them as either members of the Indian Army or the CRPF, and then bark out that the government had decreed for collection of haftah or a weekly cess for fighting the ?anti-social? elements that had infiltrated the area. 

The ?argument? was backed up by flourishing of sophisticated guns at the drop of a hat.  The technique never ever failed.  The rural folks would later tell us that they knew who the ?army men? and the ?CRPF? actually were --- but would they dare argue with trigger-happy pathological killers? 

The contractors? men on their part would either cough up the money, or refuse and then flee the area ? forever.  Any information sent to the police in any case, would mysteriously result in quick retaliation and revenge ? of the most brutal kind ? public death by torture.

Thus would our ?continuous revolutionaries,? to quote ?Somen? ?serve the poor? and stock up on arms, ammunitions including light and portable cannon as used at Nandigram, sophisticated communication equipment, ?jammers,? portable TV sets, generators, batteries of various sizes and shapes, various gauges and makes of long lengths of electrical wires, high-end cell phones, satellite phones, lidded aluminium cans for the IEDs, sharp and cutting weapons by the hundred, dresses for men and women, helmets, uniforms, leather belts, holsters, army-style beret caps, badges, food items, liquor ? both the desi hooch (for the lowly cadres)and the more refined varieties (for the high-ranking  leaders)  ? and even jeeps and motorcycles plus bicycles. 

Another source of income was a contra-legal but flourishing cultivation of India cannabis or ganja and opium ? probably on the border areas with Bangladesh in the east and Jharkhand in the west.  The biggest source of income was of course that coming forth from the scions of the ruling classes and backed up by vast donations to ?Maoist?-affiliated NGOs from overseas sources. 

Net surfers will easily realise that a large number of ?organisations,? mostly working behind a vicious Trotskyite visage, are openly supportive of the ?Maoists? and of the remnants of the ?Naxalite? splinters, and that they regularly target the CPI(M) in general, and the Bengal CPI(M) in particular as the class enemy ? imperialism and religious fundamentalism take a remote backseat for these anarchists ? if at all.

SYMPATHISERS
ACTIVE

The sympathisers of the ?Maoist? killer here in the metros and beyond, are already active, especially in Kolkata.  We have received a number of telephone calls from ?intellectuals?, known, and unknown, especially from members of the dwindling numbers of the candle-lit membership of the ?civil society? as to why is ?Somen? not released immediately since he is a ?patriot.? 

The cleverer of these opportunists play a different tune and try to drum up a cell phone campaign for making ?Somen? a political prisoner.  Unfortunately, for these would-be ?revolutionaries,? and cowardly anti-Communists, common-or-garden murderers like ?Somen? and his ilk, are taken into custody and charged under specific sections the Indian Penal Code (IPC) that does not have a section for the euphemism called a ?political prisoner.?

Another line being manipulated is that ?Somen? is in fact a betrayer to the ?Maoist? cause, and thus there is no point in holding onto him in custody for he ?gave himself up to save himself from being killed by his more revolutionary colleagues-in-killing.?

In between, a search of ?Somen?s? house has yielded a large number of detonators and large and small tightly-lidded cans, plus books in Hindi and Bengali on ?how to conduct jungle warfare.?

(B P)