Narayanpatna is Orissas new Maoist hub

When landmines blew up a jeep carrying eight jawans of Orissas Special Security Force,as well as the driver...

When landmines blew up a jeep carrying eight jawans of Orissas Special Security Force,as well as the driver,in Narayanpatna block of Orissas Koraput district on Thursday,the incident established the forested area as the newest Red hub,comparable to Lalgarh in West Bengal.

While the state Government reacted to the landmine incident quickly,with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik,Director General of Police Manmohan Praharaj and IG (operations) Sudhanshu Sarangi rushing to review the police strategy against the Maoists,senior police officials in Koraput and Malkangiri say the situation has been going out of hand for a year now. Those who have been watching the heightened Maoist activity in the southern districts say the rebels have already established their base in Narayanpatna,with the support of local tribals.

‘The Maoists have moved a company of armed rebels from their Chhattisgarh cadre to the Koraput division,now based in Narayanpatna. Narayanpatna is highly forested and also offers easy access to Andhra Pradesh,’ a DIG-ranked officer said. Senior CRPF officials also attest to the fact that Narayanpatna is the new Red hub. ‘The state Government needs to move at least a battalion of Central forces from northern Orissa to Narayanpatna,’ said one of them.

Narayanpatna has become popular with Naxals due to frequent police raids in Malkangiri,the states Maoist hub since the 1980s. The inaccessible hilly terrain and miles of dense forests that join Orissa and Andhra also make it a haven for the extremists.

Strategically placed near the Andhra Pradesh border,this block is a key point of the Maoist route. From Narayanpatna the rebels can easily reach the hamlets of Visakhapatnam through Parvatipuram. The block also links to the remote areas of Malkangiri district.

A series of incidents in the area over the past couple of years has confirmed the major Maoist presence in Narayanpatna. Last year,they murdered contractor in broad daylight. They have also targeted alleged police informers,traders and village-level leaders. The victims of the rebels include sarpanch Markand Choudhury,trader Balram Sahukar and block BJD president Jana Bidika.

On June 16,the Maoists destroyed a nursery and a Forest Department building near Odiapentha village in Koraput district. Hundreds of rebels ravaged the building,not sparing even the saplings. They left posters that stated the attack was in retaliation to the killing of two of their leaders in Andhra Pradesh in an encounter. Earlier,members of Chasi Muliya Adivasi Sangh (CMAS),a Maoist-backed organisation,had destroyed two nurseries at Musulimunda and Ambaguda alleging that the horticultural work encroached on tribal farmlands.

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After the Chief Ministers visit,the Koraput civil administration and police officials have resolved to address the problems of tribal lands. The Government also suspended Laxmipur sub-divisional police officer for a tactical blunder that led to the most recent casualties in Narayanpatna.