Posters against ‘Green Hunt’ appear in Punjab

Punjab has started feeling the Maoist heat. A number of posters asking people to raise voice against ‘Operation Green Hunt’ appeared in parts of the state recently, even as top Maoist leader Ashwani, who heads a students’ body, was arrested in Sangrur last week.

The posters dotted more than a dozen towns in Malwa region. Police said they were locally printed, but seemed to be the brainchild of Maoist agents outside the state.

Official sources said Maoists were getting proactive in Punjab. “They have divided the state in three zones for consolidating their base and appointed zonal leaders for operations,” a senior police officer said.

Earlier, some Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ugraha) leaders were taken into custody for inciting small farmers and agriculture workers against the state. Police said top Maoist brains had been coming to Punjab from time to time to do groundwork.

Pramod Mishra, a CPI (Maoist) central committee member, has held more than a dozen meetings in Punjab to mobilise support among workers from Bihar and Jharkhand engaged in the state’s industrial sector.

Earlier, a state-wide alert was sounded following the arrest of Jai Prakash Dubey, a senior CPI (Maoist) functionary in Jharkhand, in Jalandhar. His interrogation revealed Maoists were making “serious and concerted efforts to gain roots in Punjab”.

Dubey, who had been hiding in a village near Phillaur in Jalandhar district by the name Anupam for about a year, was reportedly trying to create a network of sympathisers through ideological infiltration. He was also trying to set up a frontal organisation in the area.