Last year, raids in Chennai led to the discovery of a unit that was assembling rocket launchers. Training is a meticulous affair, says a police officer who has been tracking their growth over the years. ‘‘A recruit from Bihar or Jharkhand could be sent as far away as Kerala for training,’’ he points out. The system is such that there is a core group of armed personnel in each area of operation. They are supported by armed militia whenever needed, for instance during ‘‘swarming’’ of a police station or camp. The militia return to their villages once an operation ends but the core armed personnel function on a full-time basis. Intelligence inputs suggest that the militants have begun using bullet-proof vests and might even have access to night-vision devices that they could use to their advantage during attacks on security personnel and police camps. A wide range of sophisticated devices, including Claymore mines, camera flashes, mobile phones and radio signal detonation devices are now being used in attacks.

‘‘There is a move to create a new unit to make gelatine slurry,’’ an officer said. And as if to leave no one in doubt about its abilities, the organisation also has its own MI (Military Intelligence) and Central Instructors Team.What has security agencies worried is the revelation that the Maoists have recently established a network in Assam to procure arms and ammunition. ‘‘Their target is to have a stockpile of 200 rounds of ammunition for each weapon they have,’’ says an officer. The arrested Naxalite leader also confirmed that they had drawn up a hit-list of politicians who mobilised popular support against them; the Government has braced itself for more attacks like that on JMM MP Sunil Mahato in Jharkhand last year. But the Government may be hamstrung by the fact that Central forces are stretched thin and despite Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s exhortation to ‘‘eliminate’’ the ‘‘virus’’, state police forces are just not equipped to counter the challenge being mounted by the Naxalites. ‘‘The Naxalites have a leadership in place throughout the country. They’re extremely focused, their daily survival is based on it. But the Government does not seem to be focused enough,’’ points out Ajai Sahni of the Institute of Conflict Management. The only consolation—if it can be called that—is that there is no concrete evidence so far of foreign help in their operations.

... contd.