India - SATP on CPI (Maoist) strategic shift towards base building and urban work in Maharashtra

…There has been a clear downward trend in other patterns of violent activities as well. The Maoists orchestrated one blast in Gadchiroli District in 2015, as against three such incidents in 2014, and seven in 2013. They were involved in four arson incidents in 2015, as against one in 2014. In one such incident on January 22, 2015, the Maoists set on fire around 14 vehicles of an Andhra Pradesh-based private company engaged in road construction in the Dhanora tehsil of Gadchiroli District. The Maoists roughed up a few labourers and their supervisor when the work on the Gharanji-Pustola stretch was underway for the connecting road between Edampayali and Korkoti.
Amidst the slump in their activities in Maharashtra and elsewhere, the Maoists are shifting focus towards recruiting active supporters and are planning the formation of a Revolutionary People’s Council, to function parallel to local civic bodies like panchayat samities (village committees) and zilla parishads (district councils). This was revealed during the interrogation of a senior Maoist cadre arrested by the Gadchiroli Police.

Meanwhile, in a press statement, the CPI-Maoist acknowledged the death of ‘central committee’ member, identified as Sridhar Srinivasan aka Vijay aka Vishnu, of heart attack on August 18, 2015. The Maoists also acknowledged that Srinivasan was active in the Mumbai, Pune and Vidarbha regions before his death. These revelations strengthen the apprehension expressed by Chief Minister Fadnavis that the rebels are trying extend their influence into these urban spaces…