Author: Manoj Choudhary
Publication: Hindustan Times
Date: August 26, 2013
URL:   https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/police-claim-maoists-sexually-exploiting-girls-in-jharkhand/story-ADx38swIHQvlkkIZ06hcgK.html

In what could be an expose of the dark underbelly of the violent Maoist movement, police have claimed that rebel leaders are sexually exploiting poor tribal girls in Jharkhand’s militancy-infested interiors. At least two of the girls are said to be pregnant. Manoj Choudhary reports.

Police named at least two Maoist leaders – ‘regional commander’ Sandeep and ‘sub-zonal commander’ Mochhu – in this saga of false promises and sexual exploitation.

If proven true, the Maoists could be following the path of the now-defunct All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) and National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT), whose leaders had forced female cadres to act in pornographic films, shot in their camps based in Bangladesh.

West Singhbhum superintendent of police Pankaj Kamboj said an arrested Maoist aide Pratap Singh Angoria spilled the beans on the lifestyle of the amorous Maoist leaders active in Saranda area, a thickly-wooded area in the district.

Angoria, who was arrested from Chaibasa on Sunday, had been supplying medicines and electronic goods to Maoist leaders besides informing the rebels about police activities in the district headquarter.

The police official quoted Angorai as saying that he had recently arranged the medical treatment of a girl at a private nursing home in Chaibasa on a false identity after she underwent an abortion and became physically weak. The abortion was allegedly done at the behest of two Maoist leaders Sandeep and Mochhu.

Angorai also claimed that he had knowledge of another woman, aged around 25 years, who had faced the same predicament. He, however, said that he had no other information on her.

The arrested youth informed the police that these women had come in contact with the Maoist leaders during their movement in the remote villages.

Kamboj said that the police were trying to locate both the women to get more information about the Naxal leaders’ activities and added that police had information about their exploitation of village women either by false promise or by force.

“The arrested Maoist aide Angorai had been supplying medicines, including anti-pregnancy pills. He had also been supplying electronic goods to the rebels, such as computers, laptops, cell phones, etc. We have seized two laptops, two computers, video recorders, tablets, voice recorder, data card, pass books of three bank accounts and a motorcycle from his possession,” Kamboj said.

Angoria had been working for senior Maoist commanders including Sandeep, Mochhu, Nirbhay and Sagar alias Misir Besra but the police did not had record of his involvement in any Maoist activity.

Police said that Angorai had opened a shop in Chaibasa and running a coffee shop there. Angorai had three bank accounts in his name at various banks including IDBI. The Maaists had given him Rs 5 lakh for purchasing goods and he had spent Rs 3 lakh for this purpose.