Five districts in Odisha see Maoist exodus

BHUBANESWAR: In a significant improvement in the left-wing extremism (LWE) situation in Odisha, the state government has declared five districts—Angul, Boudh, Sambalpur, Deogarh and Nayagarh—as Maoist-free belts. These districts did not report any Maoist-triggered violence in the last two years or more, which is a major criterion for acknowledgement as a Red-free zone.
Director general of police Abhay said the state government has approved Odisha police’s proposal to remove the five districts from the Centre-sponsored security related expenditure (SRE) scheme, which is exclusively meant for capacity building and infrastructure development in Maoist-affected districts.
In 2012, total 19 districts were impacted by LWE. In April 2018, six districts—Jajpur, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Gajapati and Ganjam were declared as free from Maoist activities. Same year, two districts—Boudh and Angul—were identified as Maoist-affected regions.
With the exclusion of the five districts from the Maoist-affected map, total 10 out of 30 districts in the state are now affected by the LWE menace. The 10 LWE-affected districts are Koraput, Malkangiri, Rayagada, Bargarh, Balangir, Nabarangpur, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Kandhamal, and Sundargarh. “We have increased our presence and set up security camps in the 10 districts. Efforts are being made to wipe out Maoist influence from the 10 districts,” Abhay said.
The top cop attributed the complete exodus of Maoists from the five districts to massive anti-Naxal operations and good governance. He said the security forces would ensure that the Maoists do not regroup or return to the districts. “Robust security response as well as focused developmental activities by the state government ensured a turnaround in the LWE situation in the last few years. Exodus of the Maoists also indicates the immense faith of the locals on the government and their disenchantment towards Maoist ideology,” Abhay added.
Proposal to the Centre to exclude the five districts from the SRE scheme also meant a cut of Central funds to the state under this specific head. However, cops parried to question whether any order was issued by the Centre to send proposals for dropping Maoist-hit districts from the SRE scheme in view of paucity of funds and nosediving economy in the country.
Exclusion of the five districts from the SRE scheme came close on heels of the killing of five suspected Maoists in Kandhamal district on July 5. At least six Maoists have so far been killed in Odisha this year. Earlier in January this year, the police had neutralized a suspected Maoist in Swabhiman Anchal in Malkangiri district. Casualties of suspected Maoists stood at 19 in 2018 and 8 in 2019.
DGP said an increasing number of Maoists have been shunning the path of violence. While, total 13 Maoists had surrendered in the state in 2019, at least 17 Naxals have surrendered so far this year.
Notably, LWE activities in the state faced a body blow following the arrest of top Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda in July 2014. Currently, only a handful of Odia cadre Naxals have been left in the state as the police suspect that mostly the Maoists from neighbouring Chhattisgarh are reining control in Odisha.
Police said at present only around 200 Maoist leaders, including 25 state committee members of the outlawed CPI (Maoist) are active in the state. Of them, only around 30 leaders belonged to Odisha. Over 600 Odia Maoists cadres were active in the state a decade ago.