Saikiran asked: What kind of technology is used by the Naxals to communicate with each other?

P.V. Ramana replies: The Naxalites/Maoists have used cell phones to communicate with one another. However, in an express instruction, erstwhile general secretary Muppala Lakshmana Rao alias Ganapathy forbade their usage as they are susceptible to interception, which could give away the location of those in communication, as well as operational secrets. Besides, there were occasions in which the security forces gained access to the numbers of other important leaders when a cell phone was seized from a captured or killed Maoist leader, thus, increasing the possibility of a cell phone causing further damage.

As this researcher was told, the Maoists began using data cards from the time they were launched in the country.

Also, way back in 2002, this researcher has physically seen sophisticated wireless sets (walkie-talkie) of ICom and Motorola make, which were seized by the security forces from the Maoists.

In the end, the Maoists seem to have realised that human courier was a safer way to communicate among themselves.

Posted on February 11, 2019