BHUBANESWAR: Even as Director General (DG) of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Rajiv Bhatnagar met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday, a day after visiting CoBRA battalion in Koraput, the anti-Naxal strategy for Kalahandi-Kandhamal-Balangir (KKB) axis remained a challenge for the security forces in the State.
With communication links inadequate in these districts, the security forces have found area domination in the region a tough task. Taking advantage of the situation, the KKB unit of the CPI (Maoist) has managed to hold fort.“It is a corridor they want to secure since it gives them access to Chhattisgarh towards north as well as down in the south. The Eastern Ghats topography plays out as the perfect cover for the Red rebels,” sources in the State Police said.
In this region, the CRPF has a task cut out because the Border Security Force (BSF) is primarily holding its ground in the southern Odisha pockets. While the Maoist situation in Koraput and Malkangiri has been under control, the rise of the rebels in tri-junction of Rayagada, Kalahandi and Kandhamal has been worrying.
This year, till August 15, as many as 45 Naxal violences were reported compared to 62 in the corresponding period of last year. However, the deaths have been more in number - 21 as against 18 last year. Maoists have targeted innocent tribals branding them as police informers.
Insiders point out that tardy pace of development in the region has been a major reason why the security forces have not been able to make any major breakthrough.
“If you look at the pattern, increased road networks have been the major reason for operational success in Chhattisgarh. Despite the huge setbacks, the security forces have suffered in the neighbouring State. The same can not be said about this pocket of Odisha,” sources point out.
Interestingly, most of the focus on infrastructure has been made on Koraput and Malkangiri region which were hotbeds of the Maoist activities. While things have gradually changed in the souther pocket, the scenario in KKB has remained unchanged. Road network apart, mobile connectivity is another issue for ground level intelligence gathering too. Besides, the poor social indices have also allowed the Naxals to draw sympathy of the locals in these districts.
However, the CRPF DG was upbeat about the coordinated action with State Police. After his meeting with Naveen, Bhatnagar said the security forces have done a tremendous job and comprehensive strategy is being chalked out to snap the Maoist plans of creating the corridor.He also paid a visit to DGP KB Singh later. Singh said the discussion was about redeployment of the forces with a change in strategy.