Cadres of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), also known in India as Naxalites, or Maoists, are believed to be operating in over-200 districts across 17 States. The ultimate objective of the rebels is to seize/capture the state/political power through protracted people's war (PPW) and herald a New Democratic Revolution (NDR). Speaking in a media interaction in Kerala on January 5, 2008, the Union Cabinet Secretary, KM Chandrasekhar, said that the cadre strength of the CPI (Maoist) is 15,000 underground, armed men and women.

Of all the affected States, Chhattisgarh is presently the worst hit by Maoist activities. The area in southern Chhattisgarh is known as Bastar, comprising of five districts viz. Kanker (Northern Bastar), Bastar (Jagdalpur), Dantewada (Southern Bastar), Bijapur and Narayanpur. The total area of these districts is 39,000 sq km; a little larger than Kerala and a little smaller than Haryana.

The region is in the heart of India. But, because it is remote, highly underdeveloped, and largely unconnected, so little is known about the area and fewer still is written in the national media about what happens there. Normally, media interest is evoked after the rebels conduct a daring raid, or launch a spectacular attack, such as the massacre of 55 security force personnel, including those of Chhattisgarh Armed Force and Special Police Officers, on March 15, 2007, in Rani Bodli.

Even as their killings have turned chilling, the rebels' arsenal, too, has undergone a vast change. From fielding farm implements they have come a long way, and now deploy SLRs, AK series rifles, INSAS rifles, etc. Lately, they have also developed crude rocket launchers that are not accurate, but have "nuisance value'. Besides, the Maoists have acquired a certain degree of versatility in fabricating landmines and Improvised Explosive devices (IEDs), a technique which they have initially learnt from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Taking further their ingenuity in fabricating explosives, the rebels have, now, begun to plant pressure mines. Speaking on May 16, 2006, the then district police chief of Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh said: "These mines will kill anyone who steps on them. The mine doesn't distinguish between a policeman and a civilian. It is also for the first time in the country that the Visakhapatnam police have unearthed pressure mines."

Typically, these bombs are made by placing TNT or other explosives in a small, spherical container and attaching a blasting cap at the top of the container. The size of the blast depends upon the size of the container, and the amount of explosive material packed inside. Pressure bombs are made with readily available materials and can be as simple or as complex; all depends on the fabricator's choice. "These bombs are easy to conceal. They are planted just below the surface of the earth. The pressure that a person would exert when he or she steps on it accidentally, while walking normally, is all that is needed to trigger-off an explosion.", Mr GP Singh, Superintendent of Police, Bastar, told this author during an interview in July 2007.

Since the past couple of years the Maoists have been widely plating pressure mines in Bastar. The intended target is the security force personnel on patrol. While on duty, the fear of a blast constantly lurks in his mind and has to be very cautious while walking; this is a distraction. On the other, if he is careless, he might get injured and lose a limb permanently; occasionally he may also die. An injured security force personnel is more expensive for the state as it raises the cost fighting the rebels; the injured person has to be tended to and a replacement found for him.

It is sad, and abhorring, that the unintended target has been civilian population and innocent, speechless animals. Many civilians have been killed and many more injured with their limbs amputated in pressure mine blasts. Also, on a number of occasions ordinary cattle grazing in the forest have been killed or injured.

During a visit to Bastar a few months back, this author was shocked when he met with, and spoke to, in Narayanpur, Mrs Triveni Devangana, a school teacher who was hit by a pressure mine. She was on her moped three feet away from the blast site, when the pressure mine got triggered, because a cattle-herd -- a young lad -- fiddled with the device that was planted adjacent to a bore well, just a few feet away from her school. Normally, security force personnel halt there to quench their thirst.

The cattle-herd was injured. While the head master of her school was hurt in the right eye, Mrs Devangana lost sight in the right eye, suffered partial damage in the left eye and has received burn injuries in the face. Mother of two children and a Sahitya Ratna in Hindi, her family of modest economic status spent 1.1 lakh for her treatment. The government offered no assistance to her, while the Maoists did not even care to 'apologise', which they do occasionally, when innocent civilians fall victim to their violence.

In Bastar, it appears, the Maoists do not play by any rules, and the lives of innocent civilians simply do not matter. Their 'larger objective' of waging a revolution is all that matters to them.

Dr. P.V. Ramana is Research Fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi. His edited book titled "The Naxal Challenge - Causes, Linkages and Policy Options, published by Pearson Longman, was released in November 2007.