ORISSA now stands at a critical juncture in its ongoing battle against the Maoists. Strong opposition to Operation Green Hunt from the Left extremists has left the Naveen Patnaik government in a tight spot.
The killing of 11 jawans of the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the State police in a landmine blast on the Govindpali ghat road in Koraput district on April 4, just two days before 78 CRPF men were killed in Dantewada in Chhattisgarh, has made things difficult for the authorities who were readying for a massive anti-Maoist operation.
In the wee hours of March 24, Maoists killed three policemen inside the Ambajhari forest in Gajapati district.
In a bid to thwart any operation against them, the Maoists continue to block major roads in the Narayanpatna area of Koraput and damage roads and culverts. The extremists have also put up banners demanding the withdrawal of the Central forces from the region. Blocking roads with felled trees is a common method the Maoists adopt to prevent the movement of police teams in Malkangiri district, which shares borders with Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
It is not the Maoists alone who oppose Operation Green Hunt. Over 5,000 tribal people from the areas of Malkangiri district where the Maoists have a strong presence staged a demonstration outside the collectorate in the district headquarters town of Malkangiri on April 2 against the operation.
These people, who gathered under the banner of the Konda Reddy Unnayana Sangha, demanded that basic amenities such as education, health care, road connection and electricity be provided in their areas. The administration, which has neglected the forest areas of the district for decades, is now finding it difficult to implement development programmes fearing Maoist attacks.
Maoists have not only targeted security personnel deployed in the area from time to time but also killed village heads, small traders and political activists at frequent intervals, branding them as police informers. More than 20 people have been killed in Malkangiri district in the past six years.
The police, however, deny the Maoist claim. About 90 per cent of the people killed by Maoists had no known links with the police, said Sanjeev Marik, Inspector General of Police (Operations).
“The Maoists are killing innocent villagers after branding them as police informers with the sole aim of terrorising the local people in order to strengthen their base,” said Marik.
Further, the Maoists have been damaging infrastructure such as school and government buildings in an apparent move to deprive the security personnel of a place to camp. Many such attacks have taken place in Sundergarh in recent months.
Mobile-phone towers have been targeted in the southern districts of Gajapati, Koraput, Rayagada and Malkangiri for the past several months. Railway tracks have been damaged on days when bandhs were called, in Sundergarh district and elsewhere.
Marik, who sees the Maoist issue as a complicated problem, says that the Maoists adopted double standards with regard to development work in the backward regions. “It is unfortunate that they are blowing up school buildings and other infrastructure while they themselves were blaming the administration for lack of development work.”
“The Maoists are a bunch of criminals who have no respect for democracy and the laws of the land. They are out to block development,” Marik added.
The Maoists, who have a strong presence in 17 of the 30 districts, killed 32 policemen and 28 civilians in 266 incidents reported in the State in 2009. Counter-operations by security forces have resulted in the arrest of 182 Maoists, neutralisation of 11, and the surrender of eight during the year.
The State government is now taking on the Maoist challenge with the help of four CRPF battalions and five battalions of the Border Security Force. More battalions of Central forces have been sought.
The government has focussed on enhancing the capabilities of the State police by raising the SOG, the Special Intelligence Group, four special security battalions, five India Reserve battalions, and the Orissa Special Security Force.
Sources in the police claimed that the police had been successful in containing the Maoist menace to some extent in Keonjhar, Jajpur, Sambalpur and Mayurbhanj. Efforts were on to improve the situation in Sundergarh.
The authorities, however, admit that the situation was out of control in the southern districts, where people were fleeing their homes. Opposition parties have blamed Naveen Patnaik for his government’s failure to contain the Maoists who appear to be gaining strength steadily. Bharatiya Janata Party State unit president Jual Oram even alleged that the ruling Biju Janata Dal was hand in glove with the extremists. The Chief Minister, however, said he would deal with them with a firm hand. Patnaik has been holding the Home portfolio since 2000, and his tenure has seen the maximum growth of the Maoist menace. In a bid to boost the morale of the police force, the State government has announced that the families of those killed in the landmine blast would be provided homestead land apart from a compensation package.
But the Maoists have issued fresh threats that attacks such as the ones carried out at Govindpali and Dantewada would be repeated if the State and Central governments did not stop Operation Green Hunt.
Top police officiers are tight-lipped about their new strategy.
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