On May 19, fighters from the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) seized the town of Timurpalli in the Malkangiri district of Odisha.
Laying waste to the local government headquarters in the Panchayat building, forty PLGA guerrillas were said to have killed 15 enemy agents of repression and take control without suffering any injuries. The PLGA is led by the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI).
The action was said by the guerrillas to be carried out in response to state persecution of intellectuals branded “urban Maoists” and in retaliation for the old-state’s anti-tribal activities, including the “fake-encounters” in which government forces kill mostly unarmed peasants and then claim their victims to be Maoist combatants.
“Fake encounters” are known to be an Indian state tactic often used to attack peasants and suppress political views.
The CPI also carried out several important armed actions during the May 20 General Strike in Gadchirolli, destroying two warehouses and other equipment that paralyzed production in the district.
The armed General Strike was called in protest of the extra-judicial killings of CPI member Ramko Narote and guerrilla Shilpa Dhurva on April 27 in Gundurwahi.
Each year, the Indian state uses terror against revolutionaries in efforts to stop the People’s War and every year they are met with embarrassing failure. The General Strike and armed combative actions prove India’s Maoists to be unrelenting in their struggle to bring freedom and democracy to the people of India.
