In the last week of February 2003, security agencies in Bihar unearthed a well-entrenched network of Nepalese Maoists in Patna. Five Maoists were arrested when a hideout of the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) was busted in Patrakar colony on 25 February 2003. Four more Maoists were arrested from the Gandhi Maidan area on February 27. Again, on February 28, the police recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition belonging to Nepalese Maoists during a raid on the home of a homeopathy doctor in the same city. Subsequent investigations revealed that the Maoists were using Patna as a transit point to arrange finances for their group.

These developments reconfirmed the deepening linkages of the MCC with the Nepalese Maoists. In fact, the MCC has been working closely with the Maoists in Nepal for unification, consolidation and expansion of the left extremist movement in different parts of the country. The last two years have revealed that the growing linkage between the MCC and the Nepali Maoists are part of their larger strategy to create a 'Compact Revolutionary Zone' (CRZ) stretching across Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Bihar to Nepal. Expansion of Naxal activity in Bihar is an important part of this strategy and the prevailing situation in Bihar helps these outfits. The porous Bihar-Nepal border, the general breakdown of rule of law, poor governance and incapacity of the police force provides a context for these left extremist groups to operate with ease.

Bihar presently stands second, after Jharkhand, in terms of Left-wing activities. In the first nine months of 2002, about 116 persons were killed in extremist violence. This followed 111 killings in 2001. According to official sources, while Naxalite violence between 2001 and 2002 declined in the worst Naxalite hit States like Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand, Bihar’s share in left wing violence is rising.

The MCC has been maintaining close relations with the Nepalese Maoists for some time. In February 1996, the MCC Central Committee published a paper welcoming the Maoist movement in Nepal. In October 1996, the MCC condemned the repression of the Maoist movement in its Congress. Reports in April 2000 informed that the MCC and Maoists were holding joint training camps in Hazaribagh and Aurangabad. In September 2000, Pramod Mishra visited Nepal and had extended discussions with Maoist leaders. In August 2001, Nepalese Maoist leaders and Indian Naxal groups had a meeting in Siliguri when they discussed strategies to achieve the goal of the CRZ. In July 2001, the MCC along with the PWG and the Maoists in Nepal, formed an umbrella organization, the Coordination Committee of Maoist Parties and Organizations of South Asia (CCOMPOSA) to unify and coordinate the activities of the Maoist Parties and organisations in South Asia. In December 2001, the MCC and the PWG, in their joint meetings, held in the Jharkhand forests, resolved to support the Maoist insurgents in Nepal. In the same year, the MCC, the PWG, and Maoists formed a “Indo Nepal Border Regional Committeeâ€Â