Deepak bares Philippines link

Kolkata, March 7: Guerrillas from an ultra-Left outfit in the Philippines had trained CPI(Maoist) cadres near the Bengal-Jharkhand border three years ago, Telugu Deepak is believed to have told police.

“Deepak told us that members of the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of Philippines (CPP), has experience of running a people’s war since 1969. He confessed that some NPA members camped in dense forests in September 2007 near the Bengal-Jharkhand border for over a month. They taught

the Maoists how to be the hidden enemy and launch surprise attacks on state forces,” a CID officer said today.

Khobad Ghandy, the CPI (Maoist) politburo member arrested last year, brought the NPA members to India, Deepak is said to have told the police. “Ghandy used to deal with the outfit’s external affairs. He travelled to a number of countries where ultra-Left organisations are active,” said an Intelligence Branch officer.

Deepak, arrested from Behala on March 2, spilled the foreign-training beans after officers of the Intelligence Branch started interrogating him yesterday.

Sources said the decision to seek the help of foreign outfits was taken at the CPI (Maoists)’s ninth party congress held inside the Dandakaranya forest in Orissa in 2007.

“The Maoists decided to take help from their foreign counterparts, including those in the Philippines and the Netherlands. It was mentioned in the party congress document that ultra-Left outfits abroad had agreed to help the Maoists in India,” said an Intelligence Branch officer.


The Telegraph