Maoists roping in NGOs, students: IB

Maoists roping in NGOs, students: IB
Rajib Chatterjee KOLKATA, May 31: Top Maoist leaders are making efforts to set up “pressure groups” in Kolkata with the view to launch a strong anti-state campaign against “police excess”, say state Intelligence Branch (IB) sleuths. In order to set up “pressure groups” in the city, top CPI (Maoist) leaders have sought assistance from all human rights organisations in the state and the city's student community, a senior IB officer told The Statesman, requesting anonymity. Members of the “pressure groups” will organise rallies in the city to build “public opinion” against “state-sponsored terrorism” and they will keep up pressure on police for “committing excesses” on people on the “plea of launching a crackdown” on Maoist terror modules which are in operation in Midnapore West, Bankura, Purulia and Birbhum districts. The IB official said, proposal to form pressure groups in the city had been mooted by a well-known human rights activist who allegedly has close contacts with some top CPI (Maoist) leaders. The man, according to IB officials, is acting as a linkman between CPI (Maoist) and human rights organisations. According to senior IB officials, some well-known intellectuals of the state are supporting the Maoists' cause “unknowingly” by participating in rallies, organised in the city by four mass organisations including two human rights groups. The IB officials suspect that these four organisations will be converted into “pressure groups” by CPI (Maoist). The intelligence branch officials, however, said the Maoist outfit has failed to form an “action-squad” in the city. Instead, the Maoist “think-tanks" are set to launch a fresh anti-state movement in the city under the banner of some human rights organisations. The IB official said, a section of students of Presidency College and Jadavpur University have become members of “frontal organisations of CPI (Maoist)”. The city police's special branch was, reportedly made aware of the link between these students and frontal organisations of the CPI (Maoist). The IB official said “ground work to form pressure groups” had been completed. Youths, who participated in the rallies in the city on the Singur and Nandigram issues, are expected to be members of the “pressure groups”. “Some intellectuals who have participated in rallies, organised by frontal organisations of CPI (Maoist) in the city recently, don't know that they helped Maoists form a strong support base in the city,” an IB official said.