Chhattisgarh extends ban on CPI-Maoist, six affiliates

Amid growing clout of the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) in interiors of Chhattisgarh, the state government Thursday extended a ban on the terror outfit and its six affiliates for one more year.

A notification issued here by the home department said the ban on the CPI-Maoist and its six frontal organisations has been extended for another one year.

CPI-Maoist was first banned along with its affiliates in the state in April 2006 under section three of the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, 2005 and since then the state government has been extending the ban every year.

The six frontal organisation which have also been banned are the Dandakaranya Adivasi Kisan Mazdoor Sangh, Krantikari Adivasi Mahila Sangh, Krantikari Adivasi Balak Sangh, Krantikari Kisan Committee, Mahila Mukti Manch and Jantana Sarkar.

The CPI-Maoist, formed by the merger of the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) and People's War Group (PWG), commands a massive interior forested belt in the state's southern mineral rich Bastar region, which is made up of seven districts -- Dantewada, Bijapur, Bastar, Kanker, Narayanpur, Kondagaon and Sukma.

The Bastar region is spread over about 40,000 sq km area where Maoists run a de facto government since late 1980s. Officials at the police headquarters here said that hundreds of police personnel and civilians have been killed in Maoist violence in the state since it came into existence in November 2000 after splitting from Madhya Pradesh.