“Even if we start now, it might take two years.”

Satyabrata Bhoy, SP, Malkangiri, confirmed increased Maoist movements between Chhattisgarh and the Andhra-Orissa border over the last two months. “They are using Malkangiri or Koraput districts as a passage between Andhra and Chhattisgarh. In the last two months, the number of armed cadres in Malkangiri has swelled to 250 or more. They strike in Chhattisgarh and flee back to Malkangiri and from here they go to hide on the Andhra-Orissa border,” Bhoy said.

In Koraput, the Maoists have made Narayanpatna their transit camp, from where there is easy access to their border stronghold in Visakhapatnam district. “It is from here that they direct cadres into Chhattisgarh and up into Jharkhand,” said an official.

Andhra police have also been grappling with heightened Maoist activity along the borders of Andhra’s Khammam district with Dantewada in Chhattisgarh and Malkangiri in Orissa. The Naxals have been working to establish bases in the forests that straddle Khammam and Dantewada.

“The Godavari passes through Khammam, dividing the district and leaving the northern part with its thick vegetation and forests vulnerable because it shares borders with both Dantewada and Malkangiri, where the Maoists have a strong presence. Due to the river there are accessibility problems as well, making it more likely for Maoists to try and increase their influence in this region so that three districts in three different states are under their control,” an official explained.