Maoists regroup, Orissa ups security

After a lull for nearly a year, Maoists are believed to be regrouping in Malkangiri, the hotbed of the Left-Wing extremism in Orissa. Reports say several rebels gathered at Jantri village under Andrapalli panchayat in the district and alarmed the state administration.

Sources in the state home department said churnings have been started to check resurgence of such forces in Malkangiri and prevent it from spreading to other adjoining districts such as Koraput, Nabarangpur and Rayagada. It has been learnt that hundreds of villagers from six gram panchayats of Malkangiri participated in a Maoist-organised meeting on Friday night, in which they pledged support to the rebels as part of their protest against the alleged “oppression” by the security personnel. What’s bothering the state administration the most is that the outlawed CPI(M) members used the two motorised boats of the government to transport the villagers to the cut-off region in the Chintrakonda reservoir where the meeting was held. The rebels have reportedly asked the villagers to boycott the panchayat elections due early next year. “Maoists of Andhra Orissa Border Special Zone Committee had convened a meeting. The ultras forcefully brought villagers from six panchayats terming it as ‘anti-police meeting’. They ferried the villagers with the help of government-provided mechanised boats. As the Maoists are losing ground and rebels are surrendering to join the mainstream, they conducted the meeting as a last ditch measure. They are instigating people to join the Maoist movement,” Malkangiri superintendent of police Mitrabhanu Mohapatra said.