Ranchi: The Communist Party of India-Maoist in Jharkhand has distributed to its cadre an extortion rate card, fixing charges for manual crushers, petrol pump owners, brick-kiln owners and the like, according to the state intelligence department.
Top naxal leaders have warned activists not to extort more than what is prescribed in the rate card.
The state special branch (intelligence department) has passed on the information to police chiefs of naxal-dominated districts.
According to the card, Rs 8,000 will be extorted annually from manual crushers, Rs 15,000 from brick-kiln owners, Rs 17,000 from mechanised crushers, Rs 25,000 from petrol pump owners and Rs 70,000 from coal sidings.
Besides this, the rate card also takes into account contractors involved in road and building construction, railway track construction and repair work and auctions.
The levy from contractors varies between five and 10 per cent depending on the work order and amount.
"The data has been collected from different hideouts of the Maoists. Maoists circulated the rate cards so that uniformity is maintained while extorting money," a senior police official said.
"Maoist rebels also extort from government officials. Extortion is not a new thing, but now it is being done in keeping with the rate card," he said.
According to police, naxals, who are active in 16 of the 22 districts of the state, earn around Rs 1.5 billion per annum from extortion and smuggling.
In 2006, naxals have damaged property worth Rs 11.67 crore almost double the figure for the whole of 2005, according to Home Ministry figures.
"Of the 806 Maoist-related incidents till June this year, Chhattisgarh witnessed 360 incidents, in which 190 civilians and 54 security personnel were killed. The unfortunate part is that violence is steadily increasing," said a senior Ministry official.
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Despite the slew of measures initiated by the Ministry in conjunction with state governments, such as coordinated intelligence-based operations, ensuring improved technology and weaponry and even opening up a special naxal cell in the Ministry, the killings have increased.
The Ministry itself maintains that while naxal violence had gone down by 12 per cent in the first six months of 2006, the number of deaths had increased by 16 per cent during the period under review.
However, for Ministry officials, Chhattisgarh has been their object of concern.
Concerned over the spurt in Maoist violence, Home Minister Shivraj Patil asked Chief Minister Raman Singh and other state officials to draw up a blueprint to counter the guerrillas last month.
With the state becoming the focal point of naxal rebellion in the country, both sides are expected to draw up an elaborate long-term strategy on how to tackle retaliatory attacks, especially in the wake of last month's massacre of over 32 tribesmen by naxal guerrillas in Dantewada district, 510 km south of Raipur.
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