Maoists claim 357 members killed in a year; 23 from Telangana

HYDERABAD: Proscribed CPI (Maoist) has admitted that 357 of its members and sympathisers were killed across the country in the past year, as per a statement released ahead of their Martyrdom Week, which begins July 28. Telangana police confirmed the veracity of the document to TOI on Tuesday.The letter, written by the central committee of the outlawed group, outlines the losses suffered by the left-wing extremist movement, including senior leadership. It states that four members of the central committee (CC), including the party's general secretary, were killed, along with 16 state committee members (SCMs) and 23 district committee members. The document also lists casualties among the armed cadre (PLGA), party members and civilians associated with the movement. "In the past one year, 357 comrades became martyrs. Of them, 136 were woman comrades and 31 revolutionary people," the letter said. The majority were killed in the Dandakaranya region, with Maoists alleging "fake encounters and encirclement attacks", it added.'Encirclement attacks'The highest number of casualties - 281 - were reported from Dandakaranya, followed by 23 in Telangana, 20 in Odisha, and 14 in the Bihar-Jharkhand region. Smaller numbers were noted in the Andhra-Odisha Border Area, Maharashtra-Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh zone, Punjab, and the Western Ghats.The group alleged that many of the deaths occurred in what they called "encirclement attacks" and "fake encounters" by security forces. "Four Maoists died of ill health and improper treatment, one in an accident, 80 in fake encounters, and 269 in encirclement attacks. Unarmed and injured comrades caught in the encirclement attack were murdered by the govt armed forces," it stated. The Maoists described the deaths as part of what they termed the 'Kagaar war', which, according to them, intensified after the Kalpar incident. "This is the first time since Naxalbari that 4 CCMs and 16 SCMs were martyred in a year," they claimed, adding that the ongoing operations were affecting their organisational structure and movement.The group also claimed retaliatory casualties on the side of the security forces, stating that in "almost each of the attacks, 10-20 policemen died and 3-20 were injured." However, there was no independent verification of these figures.