Chhattisgarh extends ban on CPI (Maoist) for one more year

The Chhattisgarh government has extended the ban on the Communist Party of India (Maoist) and six of its front organisations for one more year, an official said today.

He said that the ban, the notification for which was issued by the state's Home department, has come into effect from April 12.

The CPI (Maoist) was first banned, along with its affiliates, in the state in April 2006 under provisions of the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act-2005.

The ban has been extended for a period of one year every year since then, he said.

"The ban on the CPI(Maoist) and its six front organisations has been extended for one more year," a government official said today.

The official identified the six Maoist front organisations, on which bans have been extended, as Dandakaranya Adivasi Kisan Mazdoor Sangh, Krantikari Adivasi Mahila Sangh, Krantikari Adivasi Balak Sangh, Krantikari Kisan Committee, Mahila Mukti Manch and Janatana Sarkar.

Security forces, comprising state police and paramilitary troops, have been fighting Naxal terror in the state for the past three decades.

The state's Bastar division, spread over an area of 40,000 square kilometres, comprising seven districts- Dantewada, Bijapur, Bastar, Kanker, Narayanpur, Kondagaon and Sukma, is among the worst-affected.