Bijapur’s ‘biggest Maoist commander’ responsible for deaths of over 100 jawans, surrenders

RAIPUR: A hardcore Maoist - described by police as "Bijapur's most violent Naxal commander" - who was involved in multiple ambushes that claimed the lives of at least 100 security personnel has surrendered before Bijapur police.
Police identified him as Dinesh Modiyam, secretary of Gangaloor committee - a unit feared for brutal murders of villagers, off-duty police personnel and even fellow cadres. He was in the rank of a 'divisional committee member' in the insurgent outfit, said an officer.
Dinesh and his wife Kala Tati, a Maoist 'area committee member', came with their child to surrender. Police said he gave up arms because he feared for his own life. Now that the Maoist organisation is battered and its cadres scattered with haphazard command and control, Dinesh's bloodthirsty past was coming back to haunt him, and he feared he would be killed by his own men, said an officer.
"Imagine the worst you can about his violent nature, and he goes beyond that," said the officer. "He was as feared by people of Bijapur as his own cadres. They were in mortal terror of him. He never allowed anyone to rise above him. During interrogation, he will make the biggest revelations about Naxals, IEDs and ambushes in Bijapur," the officer said, adding: "I'd say he was the biggest commander of Naxals in Bijapur."
Dinesh's surrender is being seen as a body blow to Maoists but it puts the Chhattisgarh administration in a quandary. Deputy CM and home minister Vijay Sharma had told TOI in an interview in April last year that the surrender terms "will not be lenient for hard-core commanders", and that quashing their FIRs will be "difficult because of the harm they have caused".
'Dinesh played key role in all Naxal attacks in Bijapur'
On the other hand, a senior police Officer told TOI on Monday, taking action against Dinesh would "disturb the momentum of surrenders".
Interestingly, police are yet to officially show him as a surrendered Maoist although multiple police officers confirmed that the couple had given up arms.
A police press note said, "Gangaloor area committee secretary Dinesh Modiyam and his wife ACM Kala Tati were disillusioned with Naxal organization and expressed a wish to surrender. They SAY they were influenced by the rehabilitation and surrender policy for Maoists."
"It might be counterproductive if the surrendered cadre is sent to jail. Now that Dinesh has surrendered, state govt will go by the policy or the rhythm of surrenders of big cadres will break," a senior officer said on condition of anonymity.
Asked about a picture of the Maoist couple's surrender that's going around on social media, an officer said it wasn't released by police but by "those who facilitated the process of their surrender".
TOI spoke with a Bijapur journalist, Ganesh Mishra, who went to school with Dinesh. "He was my junior in Pedda Karma village. He was a naive and innocent little boy till Class V but dropped out of school after he failed. After the Salwa Judum movement, we got to know that Dinesh has joined the Naxals. Years later, his was the only name as 'top Naxal commander' from Bijapur-Gangaloor-Bhairamgarh to Dantewada," said Mishra. Even now, you wouldn't give Dinesh a second glance, said an officer who spent years on his trail. "He looks harmless but is extremely violent. He was instrumental behind all Naxal attacks in Bijapur, big and small, and was shot twice in encounters with security forces in Pidia and Korcholi forests but survived," he said.
According to police, Dinesh joined Maoists as a teenager and was soon planting IEDs. He was trained as an ambush specialist and rose up the Maoist ranks, from area committee member, to secretary and divisional committee member, wreaking havoc in Bijapur. tnn