RAIPUR, Nov 28: Maoists annually extort up to Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20,000 million) across India, mostly targeting iron and coal mining companies, infrastructure project contractors and ‘tendu patta’ businessmen, says Chhattisgarh Director General of Police (DGP) Vishwa Ranjan. “The per year extortion earnings of Maoists is up to Rs 2,000 crore, with Jharkhand being the top contributor,” Ranjan, a former additional director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), told IANS in an interview.
“This is a ‘guesstimate’ based on cash books and other vital papers recovered by police from Maoists in recent months.” Ranjan said a major chunk of the extortion money comes from iron ore and coal businessmen, contractors of roads and other infrastructure projects who have business activities in areas infested by Maoist rebels and tendu patta businessmen. Tendu patta is the leaf used for making bidis or leaf-rolled cigarettes, a business worth millions in Chhattisgarh’s restive Bastar region.
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