MALKANGIRI: Are Maoists running a parallel administration in Malkangiri? If the recent incidents in Podia, Kalimela and Govindpalli are any indication one can say that Maoists are ruling the roost in the area. Except the district headquarters town, the Maoists are definitely more or less in control of all the seven blocks. Kalimela, Podia and the cut-off areas under Kudmulgumma block limits are said to be Maoist strongholds. The recent killing of a contractor P.K.Swain at Govindpalli has once again proved that the Maoists have further expanded their base to Govindpal l i , Mathi l i and Khairput panchayat samiti areas. A top IPS officer, who was once SP here, told to this paper that the recent Govindpalli incident ahead of the elections gives a clear indication that the Maoists are planning a measure operation somewhere in the district soon and the State Government must take the issue seriously to avert any possible attack in Koraput and Malkangiri districts. When the Maoists set the Govindpalli police outpost on fire and demolished the newly-constructed police outpost at Podia with the help of a bulldozer recently, the government machinery was nowhere in the picture. Sources said the presence of government machinery is not felt much beyond the district headquarters town. The recent visit of this reporter to dozens of interior pockets like Telrai, Manamkonda, Poplur, Kurmanur, Alurkota, Bhiejangwada, MV-79 and Motu areas under Kalimela and Podia block reveals that a sense of fear prevails everywhere and the tribal villagers are all set to remain indoors on the polling day following the Maoists' election boycott call. Even the police personnel do not feel safe to move freely in Kalimela, Motu and Podia areas during daytime. The district is said to be a hotbed of the Maoists over the years and they have a strong influence over 80 percent area of the district. As the Maoist dominance is felt everywhere in the district, these areas can be called Maoist occupied Malkangiri (MoM), said a police official. Despite the administration’s best efforts, the situation has worsened over the years with the rise in Maoist violence. To quote a top administrative official of the district, the area from Potteru under Kalimela police limits to MV-79 under MV-79 police limits van be termed as Jammu & Kashmir of Orissa and the vast stretches of dense forested areas from MV-79 to Motu is somewhat like Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). With Chitrakonda and Malkangiri Assembly constituencies in the district all set to go to polls on April 16, Maoist shadow looms large over the two segments. The Maoist’s recent poll boycott call and past instances make it clear that the ultras will not allow the election to pass off smoothly and it seems tough ask for the Election Commission to conduct polls in the interior pockets of the district without any violence.