Kathmandu: The Maoists insurgency is again hitting the media headlines.

The insurgency has of late suddenly stepped up their violent activities for reasons known to them only.

To recall, only recently, Prachanda through a statement had vowed that his insurgency would not be that violent and would spare development projects from its action and that it would also refrain from killing individual personalities belonging to different political paraphernalia.

However, the fact is that the Maoists of late have not only stepped up their activities but have also created panic in the minds of the majority of the population to the extent that an individual in the country remains under constant threat of becoming the target of the insurgency.

Though the Maoists have yet to claim the murder of Armed Police Chief, Krishna Mohan Shrestha, but the government sources confirm that it was an act solely committed by the Maoists insurgents.

The Sunday killing of late Shrestha, if in reality is a deed of the Maoists then what could now be fairly concluded is that: firstly, the Maoists activists were already in the valley in numbers; that the Maoists wish to send signals to powers-that-be that if they were to attend to the proposed Maoists-Government talks, they would come to attend the same on equal basis that is with the position of strength; and that the insurgency also wishes to hint the establishment that in the meanwhile they have conserved enough strength in order to face any sort of challenge posed to them by the other camp should the talks fail; and that by killing late Shrestha they wish to indicate that any personality, who could be seated anywhere in the government or for that matter in the establishments of the security arrangements, could be easily brought under their target; and in doing so the insurgency has amply hinted that theirs intelligence is far superior to that of the establishment’s intelligence system and etc.

Be that as it may, the killing of late Shrestha does amply speak of the lapses seen in the Nepal’s intelligence system which apparently did come as an opportunity for the camp which killed Shrestha.

Surprising though it may appear, the Maoists supposedly killed Shrestha at a time when they too had or have been hinting that they too wished to attend to the talks and the government sources still claim that the killing of Shrestha would not close the door for such talks with the Maoists.

In effect, the Maoists, if they really killed late Shrestha, should have refrained from doing so. But they have done so raising fears in the minds of the informed citizenry as to whether they were serious for resuming the talks with the government.

Or is it that the Maoists camp wishes to hint the government that they would firstly shatter the morals of the men engaged in security arrangements in order to face greater challenges of the army.

Analyses could differ but what is for sure is that the Maoists in the Deuba days tried to harass the police force and now they wish to degrade the morals of those in the Armed Police force. This could be their new strategy to send offer of talks and concurrently conserving strength to face challenges of far greater degree. The strategy could also be to press the establishment for exacting greater concessions at time of the negotiations, if at all it happened.

Till penning this write-up the Maoists have yet to claim their responsibility for the killing of late Shrestha.