Internal Feuds and Fatal Infighting: Maoist Leader's Murder in Chhattisgarh

A Maoist leader, Vijja Madkam, was allegedly killed by colleagues in Kanker district, Chhattisgarh, amidst an internal feud. The incident reflects increasing paranoia among top Maoist leadership over suspected police informers within their ranks. Several high-profile Maoists have been killed in encounters, leading to significant unrest within the organization.

A Maoist leader has been killed allegedly by his own colleagues in Kanker district of Chhattisgarh, a senior police official said on Monday, signaling a fraught internal feud within the organization.

Citing intelligence reports, Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) Sundarraj P stated that the incident occurred in the Malampenta forest under the Partapur police station limits of Kanker district, about 130km from Raipur, on September 6.

Vijja Madkam, an area committee member of the Rajnandgaon-Kanker border division of Maoists and a resident of south Bastar, was reportedly murdered by his comrades on orders from Maoist leader Vijay Reddy from Telangana, who accused him of betrayal.

Initial investigations suggest widespread panic among the Maoist leadership following the deaths of several high-ranking cadres from Telangana, Odisha, Maharashtra, and other regions in multiple encounters in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region this year.

Senior Maoists from other states, suspecting their local cadres of being 'covert operatives' or informers, have intensified infighting, creating a volatile situation within the banned organization.

It has been observed that top Maoists often use local cadres as human shields during encounters with security forces. However, recent skirmishes have shown this strategy failing, according to Sundarraj.

In the last eight months, 153 Naxalites, including top figures like Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC) members Joganna and Rander, Central Reorganisation Committee (CRC) commander Sagar, and divisional committee member Vinay, have been killed in separate encounters in the Bastar region, which comprises seven districts, he added.

In recent days, casualties within the DKSZC, the Maoists' strongest group in the country, have rendered the banned outfit directionless and leaderless. Top Maoist leaders from other states have been extorting money using local cadres for decades, said the police official.

Now, exposed Maoist figures from outside Chhattisgarh are facing rebellion from local cadres, Sundarraj noted.

(With inputs from agencies.)