All anti-state Maoist offensives in 2019 took place in Odisha

BHUBANESWAR: The country had witnessed 13 crimes by Maoists, relating to offences against the State and sedition, in 2019. Incidentally, all the 13 offences had occurred in Odisha, the latest data of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has revealed.
The finding assumes significance amid the state government’s claim that Left-wing extremism (LWE)-related crimes have seen a sharp decline in the last few years.
The NCRB has put the offences against the State under different sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). These include Section 121 (waging a war against the Government of India), 121A (conspiracy to commit offences against the GoI), 122 (collecting arms to wage war against the GoI), 123 (concealing with intent to facilitate design to wage war) and 124A (sedition) of the IPC.
Significantly, the state government had in July this year declared five districts — Angul, Boudh, Sambalpur, Deogarh and Nayagarha — as Maoist-free belts. These districts did not witness any violence triggered by Maoists in the last two years, a key criterion to get the Maoist-free tag. At present, altogether 10 (Koraput, Malkangiri, Rayagada, Bargarh, Balangir, Nabarangpur, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Kandhamal, and Sundargarh) of the 30 districts in the state are affected by LWE.
Claiming that the Maoist activities have been brought under control, the state government had recently abolished 905 posts in the Special Operation Group (SOG), the anti-Maoist force of the state police, and redeployed those personnel in police stations.
Police said the LWE activities have been controlled to a great extent and the sedition cases are not worrisome. “We have been slapping the stringent sections of sedition and offences against State on Maoists whenever they commit any crime. However, Maoist-triggered crimes like murder, attempt to murder, loot, abduction and arson have significantly dropped because of our intensified anti-Maoist operations and the government’s development activities and surrender policy for the rebels,” a senior police officer said. Police denied that the downsizing of the SOG force would weaken the anti-Maoist operations.
The state police headquarters said Maoists had orchestrated altogether 44 crimes in 2019. “The Maoists had killed 10 civilians and one policeman in the state last year. Eight Maoists were gunned down, 50 arrested and 13 had surrendered in the state in 2019. Altogether 14 exchange of fire incidents occurred between Maoists and security forces in the state last year,” officials of the police headquarters said.
In 2018, Odisha had registered only two cases relating to ‘offences against State’ against Maoists whereas Kerala had topped with 11 such cases, the NCRB report said. Chhattisgarh and Karnataka too had registered two such cases each against Maoists in 2018.