The Maoist Empire: Balance Sheet & Its Subsidaries

Is Indian Government Approach towards Maoist Will End War?

In one of the deadliest attacks in Chhattisgarh, Maoists claimed the lives of 75 policemen including a superintendent of police.According to the reports, the attack took place when 120 CRPF personnel were returning from a road opening duty in the Naxalite-infested Mukrana forest.
Over 1,000 Maoists reportedly fired at the jawans from hill tops.Though suddenly overwhelmed by a heavily armed force of Maoists, the CRPF men who were caught in a brutal ambush on Tuesday,April 06 did not go down meekly. The encounter raged for a couple of hours and the men fell one by one till a clutch of injured survivors ran out of ammunition.

Now,From Where They Are Getting Money.So,for That I am Compiling Data With Indepth Analysis From TOI..................

A yearly turnover in excess of Rs 1,500 crore. Targets raised by 15% every year, investments here, cutbacks there, acquisitions made, salaries paid, perks for the star performers...That’s the mid-sized corporation called the Maoist empire.

Every paisa of it comes from extortion, drugs, looting, ransom and robbery. In states where the rebels’ writ runs, each sack of potatoes, every truck consignment, every government salary has a price. In Jharkhand, for instance, the going rate is Rs 5 per sack of vegetables and Rs 1 crore per acre of poppy farm.

The annual turnover of the Maoists matches or even exceeds that of companies such as Exide, CESC or Hindustan Motors. According to intelligence agencies, Bihar, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh contribute around 40% of the total revenue. Most of the Maoist takings – Rs 300 crore to Rs 400 crore – comes from mineral-rich Jharkhand. Ten per cent comes from backward Orissa. Bengal, where the Maoists are in consolidation-and-expansion mode, isn’t particularly cash-rich but is allotted the bulk of the investment portfolio. The rebels extort crores even from Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu where they don’t have much of a hold.

Maoist resources is a tricky subject. Most government and corporate employees are enthusiastic about discussing this but only off the record. “It is risky to talk about this in public,” remarked a senior police officer in Bhubaneswar.

Pay up, or else...

A few months ago, the Maoists went on the rampage in Malkangiri district, setting on fire a guest house owned by a multi-national company, as well as a petrol pump, a control room and other property worth lakhs. It raised urgent questions. Why attack a private firm? A police officer offers some pointers: “It is an open secret that business houses make regular payments to Maoists in order to survive. They incur the wrath of extremists only when they stop payments or refuse to increase the quota.”

The extortion network touches every strata of society. Some time ago, Rayagada police arrested engineering college staff en route to meet the Maoists and hand over Rs 13 lakh. The police officer elaborates: “Each organization or individual has a separate quota. So, too, contractors. Those who provide logistical support to the extremists or are listed as their men are charged 6% of the total project cost. Others have to pay 15%. Even bus and truck associations have to pay.”

In Jharkhand, the levy ranges from 5% to 10% on civil contractors and Rs 50 per truck. Bus and truck operators have to pay Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 per month.

In Bengal, the insurgents collect Rs 8 lakh to Rs 10 lakh per month from stone-crushing units, sponge iron factories, contractors, businessmen and even school teachers in Jangalmahal. The Maoists are believed to be extorting money from traders in urban areas outside Jangalmahal. “It is possible that they have forced some big industrialists to pay a regular levy,” says another police officer.

A civil contractor in Singhbhum says that “every contractor has to cough up money when the Maoists demand it. We can only negotiate and hope to bring it down to the base level of 5%.” He adds, “A businessman who tried to be smart was abducted and released only when his family paid a hefty ransom.”

A transporter operating in the coal mines in Jharkhand’s Piparwar area, says, “If we avoid paying the levy, our trucks are set on fire. More than 20 trucks carrying coal and bauxite have been set ablaze this year.”
Jharkhand home secretary J B Tubid admits the Maoists extort huge sums by imposing large levies. “We are doing our best to plug all sources of levy to them.”

Fiscal discipline:-

Ganja cultivation is also a major source of revenue for them. Poppy cultivation flourishes on thousands of acres in the Balimela reservoir area in Orissa’s Malkangiri and some 200 acres in Jharkhand. “The Maoists are opposed to liquor, but encourage ganja cultivation. It is a double benefit for them as they get commissions from its sale and they win over the locals by keeping the police off their illegal crop,” says a police officer.

The rebels have a layered set-up, starting at the central committee and reaching right down to the local guerrilla squad. They don’t operate like street goons. Designated people at every level religiously maintain accounts, totting up income and expenditure. Earnings are mostly used to buy weapons, dry rations and medicines, such as anti-malarial drugs, vitamins and antibiotics. Half the money allocated to or generated in Bengal is spent on firearms, say sources.
The cadres are even paid and salaries can range from Rs 250 to Rs 3,000. Those who operate from home are not paid. The policy is well-defined on who will collect and how much. Grassroots cadres are allowed to spend small amounts; huge collections are handed over to the designated central committee functionary. For instance, Rs 99 lakh looted from a Malkangiri bank in April 2009 was sent to the high command.

Perks and freebies:-

But not everyone in the Maoist ranks believes in the frugal life. A young rebel arrested from a remote village in Ranchi’s Bundu block sported brand new Reebok shoes, an expensive shirt and had a high-end mobile phone.

Ranchi SSP Praveen Singh says that Maoist regional commander Kundan Pahan sent the central committee just Rs 1 crore of the Rs 4 crore looted from a bank in May 2008. “He kept the rest to buy arms and ammunition, and indulge in luxuries such as expensive shoes, motorcycles and (living it up) in hotels,” he said. A police officer in Bundu says that every rebel group of 30 members has at least 20 high-end motorcycles.

In Bengal, where the insurgents are spreading their tentacles, there is little scope for luxury, even though the leadership is pumping crores into the network in the state. In 2009, after the arrest of Maoist politburo leader Amitava Bagchi, police seized a sheet listing expenditure of Rs 20 crore for the Bengal unit. In 2007, when police nabbed Somen, secretary of the Bengal chapter, he revealed that expenditure was less than Rs 1 crore in the state. The sudden increase in Bengal’s budget indicates the rebels’ determination to expand in the state. More than 65% of the money allotted to Bengal comes from other state units, mostly Jharkhand and Bihar.

Source:TOI.