May 1 attack in Gadchiroli was to avenge high-handedness of police: Naxals

The western sub-zonal bureau of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) on Saturday released a pamphlet saying that the May 1 blast in Gadchiroli was to avenge the growing high-handedness of police, including the arrest of intellectuals labelled as ‘urban Naxals’. 

The blast had resulted in the death of 16 persons, including 15 Quick Response Team (QRT) commandos and one private driver at Jambhulkheda (Lendhari nullah) in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli. The Naxals had used Improvised Explosive Device (IED) to target a private vehicle in which the QRT commandos were travelling.

It is to be noted that Maoists always traditionally release statements regarding significant incidents of violence and the pamphlets related to Gadchiroli attack were found on the road near Arewada in Bhamragarh tehsil of south Gadchiroli. In the pamphlet, the Naxals have claimed that a well-planned conspiracy has been hatched by the Maharashtra police to put intellectuals and social activists behind bars by labelling them as ‘urban Naxals’. The Naxals said that these activists are being targeted because they are championing the cause of ‘jal-jungle-jameen’ (water, forest and land) which belongto the local tribal community.

In the pamphlet, the Naxals have also issued a fresh appeal to observe ‘bandh’ in Gadchiroli on May 19 to protest the killing of their divisional committee member (DVCM) of South Gadchiroli Ramko Narote and area committee member of Gatta-Bhamragarh dalam Shilpa Dhurva by C-60 commandos on April 27 at Gundurwahi forest. According to Naxals, Ramko and Shilpa were ‘murdered’ by the police for not sharing information and were not killed in an encounter as claimed by the police. The pamphlet also mentioned the deaths of 40 Naxals at Kasnasur last year.

The QRT commando force was conceptualised and raised to battle the Naxal menace in 1992 by the then SP of Gadchiroli Police KP Raghuvansi. The men of this wing were imparted training in various types of guerrilla warfare fro reputed training institute in the country.