Some discuss Maoists,some fight them

Orissa unified command upsets those on the ground

Two years ago,a Unified Action Command with IAS and IPS officers was set up in Orissa to battle Maoists. Its effectiveness has come under question from those actually involved in fighting Maoists,who of late have unleashed a spate of violence.

The UAC is an example of everything that is wrong with our fight against Naxals, said a senior police official. Among the faults he cited was the absence of key police officials from the districts worst affected.

Following the abductions of a BJD MLA and two Italian tourists and the killing of a policeman in the last two months,Union home secretary R K Singh wrote to Orissa about the alarming rate at which Maoists have been expanding their base. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has objected,saying the allegations are not correct,but home department sources agreed that ineffective strategising has led to Maoists regaining control over several parts of Koraput.

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The UAC headed by chief secretary B K Patnaik met for only the sixth time on May 11 and decided that from now intelligence-based anti-Naxal operations would be taken up. Does it mean that all this while we were carrying out operations without intelligence? the police official said.

The UAC includes the home secretary,the director general of police,the IG (anti-Naxal operation),the CRPF IG (anti-Naxal operation),BSF IG,and joint director of Intelligence Bureau. It does not include the deputy IGP of Southwestern Range that covers the Naxal-affected districts of Malkangiri,Koraput,Nuapada,Rayagada and Nawarangpur,nor the SPs of these districts.

The DIG is the single most important official who can give a clear perspective of the ongoing progress of anti-Naxal operations in those areas. Neither the DIG nor the SPs are even briefed on the proceedings of UAC meetings, the official said.

A senior CRPF official agreed that without the presence of officials who are involved in anti-Naxal operations,the UAC exercise would have little meaning. The senior officials who are part of the meeting are all based in Bhubaneswar and have little firsthand knowledge of the difficulties faced by the force. Instead of holding such meetings in Bhubaneswar,why cant the meetings be held in Koraput or Malkangiri?

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The 22km Laxmipur-Narayanpatna road,which was considered under the control of security forces,is now accepted as unsafe after the killing of contractor Jami Rajendra Prasad at Gachela on May 11. The spot is a few kilometres from a BSF camp.

Last weeks killing of Nuapada assistant sub-inspector of police Kruparam Kajhi shows that the rebels are consolidating their presence on the Orissa-Chhatisgarh border, said the police office. Incidentally,the inspectors-in-charge of Narayanpatna and Bandhugaon police stations had passed that spot on a bike just a couple of hours before the ASI was killed.