In a startling revelation, the Gadchiroli police said that the Naxal dalam commanders manage to raise around Rs 5 crore to Rs 7 crore every year by means of extortion and other such activities.
Discussing the fund trail, the police sources told The Asian Age that Kosa Reddy, the secretary of the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee, retains some of the money needed for the functioning of the dalams, and then hands over the rest of the sum to the Central Committee chief Mallajula Venugopal, who is the head of planning and finance for activities in four states.
The Dandakaranya Special Zone is the vast forest area situated between the borders of four states — Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Orissa.
The main source of funds for the Naxals in Gadchiroli is extorting money from the contractors dealing in tendu leaves, which are used for making beedis, and is one of the major produces of the district.
“One standard bag contains 1,000 bundles of tendu leaves. Every year, contractors procure three lakh bags. For each bag, the Naxals charge them Rs 150. So from tendu leaves alone, the Naxals make Rs 4.5 crore every year,” said a senior officer of the Naxal cell requesting anonymity.
Another target are the road contractors. “Naxalites extort money from the road contractors, who have to pay them, as they either threaten to stall construction of roads or set their machinery on fire. The Naxals raise Rs 30 lakh to Rs 40 lakh every year through this,” he said.
Another officer said that only dalam commanders collect the money and hand them over to Reddy. “Reddy keeps around 15 to 20 per cent of the money for the functioning of the dalams and hands over the rest to Venugopal,” he said.
Last week, home minister R.R. Patil had alleged that corporates have been funding the Naxals. However, Mr Patil added that action cannot be taken against them as there is no evidence