Nagpur: The Maoists, desperate to hit back after losing 40 of their cadres in back-to-back encounters last month, set a forest depot on fire at Talwada on Alapalli-Bhamragadh Road and also blocked traffic for a few hours by felling a tree in the early hours of Saturday. On March 12, the Maoist guerrillas had set the same post on fire.
Around 20 logs got burnt in the fire set by around a dozen Maoists at about 5.30am. The forest department was alerted by villagers. Range Forest Officer (RFO) of Alapalli division Kiran Patil rushed to the spot and managed to bring the fire under control with the help of other employees. The forest department has incurred a loss of around Rs71,000.
Vehicular transport was also hit with state bus service disrupted on Alapalli-Bhamragadh road for a couple of hours. The cops from nearby Perimili police post cleared the road for traffic after checking for IED plants and ambush plans, and removing the tree.
Additional SP of Aheri A Raja said, “Due to the weekly market on Saturday, transport services had to be restored quickly.”
The senior officer said the Perimili Dalam has claimed responsibility for the arson. “We had eliminated many of the dalam members during the Boriya-Kasnasur and Nainer encounters. It is their way of showing that the dalam is still active,” said Raja.
In a new twist, the Maoists have issued a combined threat to the police and forest departments. Earlier, they used to consider only the police and the other security forces as their enemies. The latest threats has caused panic among the forest department employees.
Through posters, banners and pamphlets, the Maoists have warned the forest department to stop felling and other work in the region. The employees — drivers, forest guards, watchmen and other personnel — have been told to refrain from getting involved in department work and also venturing deeper into Red zones. In a recent incident near Gatta, the Maoists had thrashed truck drivers and set their wood consignment on fire.
RFO Patil said the Maoists are targeting his department as “we are soft targets”. “The local tribals approach us to give them work and we will have to continue what we are doing,” he said.
