Not a single Red recruit in Malkangiri in 3 years

Building of roads in interior areas helped win people’s trust, says police.

Maoists have failed to enrol a single cadre into their fold in the last three years in Odisha’s Malkangiri district. They are steadily losing their grounds and struggling to maintain their presence in the district, district superintendent of police Mitrabhanu Mohapatra said on Sunday.

In an exclusive interview with this newspaper, Mr Mohapatra said apart from continuing combing operations, execution of massive development activities by the state administration in the district has shaken up and weakened the support base of the rebels among the local people.

The SP claimed construction of a number of roads under Pradhan Matri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGY), connecting interior and inaccessible villages in Padia block and ensuring hundred per cent public delivery system, has helped the administration win faith and trust of the local people.

“As many as 25 major PMGSY roads have recently been constructed in Padia block, providing vital connectivity to people to the district headquarters as well as other parts of the state. A new block office has opened for quick delivery of government’s welfare measures.”

“In order to bring the youth to mainstream life, football teams have been formed in every village and their energy is being utilised for productive work. This has helped the administration win the trust and faith of local people,” Mr Mohapatra said.

Another indicator of the weakening position of the rebels is that there has not been any road blockade by their supporters for two-and-a-half years now.

The officer’s unrelenting efforts have resulted in 102 militia cadres surrendering before the police. Besides, more than 2,000 Maoist sympathisers have stopped their support to the rebels.

“The villagers, who were once giving shelters to the rebels have vowed not to allow them in their villages. This is a great achievement for us,” Mr Mohapatra said.

“It has been seen in the past that the rebels have launched counter attack on the security personnel after every encounter. However, they have no answer how to counter the far-reaching and impressive outcomes of the administration’s pubic reach-out programme,” the top cop added.

It needs to be mentioned here senior security advisor in Union home ministry K Vijay Kumar on Saturday had claimed that the number of Maoists in Malkangiri district had drastically come down and rebels operating in the district had disbanded their unit to work with their Andhra Pradesh colleagues.