56 NGOs raising funds, cadres for naxals in state

Law doesn’t permit action against sympathisers: Police

MUMBAI: The naxal threat in Maharashtra is far more serious than perceived. The intelligence wing has sent the state home department a list of 56 non-government organisations (NGOs) that raise funds and conduct recruitment for naxalites.

The naxals, through these NGOs, are targeting tribals and farmers who may lose land to the special economic zones (SEZs).

Worse still, the police say they can do little to rein in these NGOs as the law doesn’t permit action against “sympathisers of an ideology”— naxalism in this case.

Director General of Police AN Roy told DNA: “According to the latest information, naxalites are set to intrude into ongoing conflicts in which farmers’ interests are involved. Anti-SEZ fights where farm land is proposed to be acquired are their next targets.”

The NGOs have been under the scanner for quite some time now and are based in Mumbai, Pune, and Nagpur.   

And all of them work under the umbrella of the Tactical United Front (TUF) and the All India People’s Resistance Forum (AIPRF) — a conglomerate of groups sympathising with the naxal cause.

A senior officer from the state intelligence department told DNA, “We have concrete information that these 56 NGOs work for naxalites and are raising funds and recruiting people at various levels. The funds so raised are channelled through various conduits that they have created over a period of time.”

The officer said: “Run by educated people, these NGOs are instrumental in conducting brainwash sessions of the new recruits, who are primarily locals and tribals from Gadchiroli, Chandrapur, Bhandara, and Yavatmal districts.”

And the modus operandi is simple. According to intelligence reports, the NGOs ensure that the tribal workers hired by the government contractors engaged for collection of tendu leaves from the forests of Chandrapur and Gadchiroli districts are paid more wages than the others. “These better deals and assured jobs are used to lure new recruits by these NGOs,” the officer explained.

Taking serious note of the intelligence report, Roy toured the entire Naxal-hit belt of the state immediately after taking over the as the DGP. After the tour, he held a meeting with the senior police officers of the state last Tuesday to discuss the problem and possible action plans to tackle Naxals.

But senior officers express helplessness in taking any action against these NGOs. Roy told DNA: “We are not in a hurry to form any view or take any action against these NGOs because of various legal hurdles involved. If we take an action in haste and later allow them to go scot-free, it would be a waste of efforts. As of now, we are keeping our eyes and ears open and keeping strict watch on some of them.”

Senior officers say at the most these NGOs could be labelled “sympathisers” and not active members of the naxal groups. “And, being a sympathiser of any ideology is no crime in this country,” an intelligence officer said.

To avoid this hurdle, the anti-naxal cell of the Maharashtra police had even requested the state government to get the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) amended by the Centre so that stringent action could be initiated against naxal sympathisers. “The proposal also clearly requests that words such as ‘naxalites’, ‘sympathisers’ and ‘frontal organisations’ be clearly redefined in the light of the latest developments,” a senior police officer told DNA.

The spread and the presence of the naxal wings in Mumbai had come to fore when the anti-terrorism squad of the police arrested Sridhar Srinivasan alias Vishanu, allegedly a politburo member of Communist Party of India (Maoist), along with another senior naxal leader Vernon Gonsalves alias Vikram. These arrests were followed by many more in Thane and Nagpur.