Chhattisgarh: Maoists video shows rebels training to move injured, dead comrades during gun-battle

RAIPUR: Rare videos of the banned CPI-M (Maoist) has emerged in Bastar purportedly showing the rebels training their young cadres on how to safely support and move their injured comrades or their bodies to secured locations following gun-battles with security forces.

Accessed by the New Indian Express, the clippings show the Naxalites in olive green uniforms demonstrating to their young members, sharing tips and guidance on swift actions needed while carrying the wounded cadres or those killed in an encounter away from the spot. A similar rare video was recovered earlier in 2015 in which the rebels were seen carrying out training to gun down helicopters by using a makeshift chopper slide down a rope and the Maoists taking guard to target it.  

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The location of the Maoist training site couldn't be ascertained though going by the medium of instruction that appears to be in the Gondi dialect, it is believed that the exercises might have been carried out deep in the remote forested terrain in the conflict zone of Bastar, south Chhattisgarh.

The Chhattisgarh police, however, claimed there is nothing new in the video. "We are familiar about their tactics and they (rebels) are known to offer such type of training to their cadres. The video footages appear to be old, nevertheless it might help us in identifying the Maoists and also later during the prosecution when they get arrested", Ratanlal Dangi, the deputy inspector general of police in Dantewada told the Express.

The incidents of gunfight between the troopers and the Naxalites are common in the Maoist-affected districts of Bastar region where their cadres are either killed or sustain injuries. According to the police officers engaged in the anti-Maoist operations, the Naxals have adopted the practice to carry their dead or injured cadres when they are hit during the gun-battle. "They take away the bodies or their injured comrades from the encounter site to safe locations inside the jungle since they would never wish to reveal the figures of their casualties immediately that might impact their morale", the officials averred.