Odisha ambush an attempt to revive LWE violence along Odisha-CG border? Forces on alert

The recent ambush of three CRPF personnel and looting of their weapons by Naxals in Odisha are being seen by security officials as an attempt to ''rekindle'' Maoist insurgency in ''silent'' areas where the forces have begun dominating the remote topography.

Two sub-inspectors and a constable of the paramilitary force were ambushed and their sophisticated assault rifles were looted by the Maoists on June 21 in the Nuapada district of the state which borders Chhattisgarh and has a cross-border jungle area running into the Sunabeda sanctuary area.

A senior security officer told PTI that the attack on the three personnel, who were possibly isolated from their team doing a road clearing exercise, was carried out by the central military commission and Odisha state Maoist committee head Malla Raji Reddy alias Sathenna/Murali/Sangram.

The personnel was killed while they were under a tree in an open field and were reportedly shot and fired with crude 'barrel grenade launchers' that have explosives-filled inside their iron casing. The slain personnel belonged to the 'golf' company of the 19th battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and were moving to secure a new forward operating base that the force had established in the area only three days back. ''There has been no violent incident in the Nuapada district and its remote locations including near Sahajpani village where the ambush took place on Tuesday. This looks to be an attempt by the Maoists to register their presence and rekindle their activity,'' the officer said.

He said the CRPF recently created a forward base in the area so that the ''Maoists' supply line in the area is cut and armed cadres who would operate across the border in south Chhattisgarh and escape to this area could be checked''.

A strong team of Naxals ambushed the three CRPF personnel and looted their AK series rifles. The overall execution of this attack is understood to have been made by Malla Raji Reddy, a second official said.

The CPI (Maoist) unit of the local Manipur-Nuapada division led by state committee member Guddu was reported to have been moving in the area, he said.

''After a long silence, a top Maoist cadre of Manipur (Chhattisgarh)-Nuapada (Odisha) division has marked its presence in the area. The forces are geared up and alert to counter this challenge,'' the second officer quoted above said.

A CRPF spokesperson, on the day of the incident, had said that their ''troops retaliated forcing the Maoists to flee while three Bravehearts made the supreme sacrifice in the encounter''.

Officials pointed out that according to the new categorization of left-wing extremism-affected districts of the country brought out by the Union home ministry in June last year, Nuapada does not figure among the ''most affected'' Naxal violence-affected districts of the country.

Nuapada has been silent, with no Maoist incidents being reported for over some years but, yes, the district figures in the list of those 70 districts in 10 states which get the security-related expenditure funds from the center to counter Naxal activities, usher in development and creation of infrastructure for security forces, officials said.

Only three districts of Odisha, Kandhamal, Malkangiri, and Kalahandi, are bracketed under the 'most affected left-wing extremism districts' while a fourth one Koraput is listed under the 'district of concern' categorization.

There are a total of 8 districts in six states categorized as 'districts of concern' and as per government definition they are those jurisdictions where the authorities need ''to counter Maoists' spread to new areas and to stop resurgence in the areas where left-wing extremism influence is waning''. ''This (categorization under districts of concern) would address resource gaps and consolidate gains in these areas,'' an official notification issued by the left-wing extremism division of the home ministry had said in the notification issued last year.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)