Orissa favours joint operation to counter Naxals

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said that he would discuss the matter with Union Home minister P Chadambaram in Delhi.

Favouring a Chhattisgarh type anti-Maoist operation in southern Orissa,Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said on Wednesday that he would discuss the matter with Union Home minister P Chidambaram in Delhi on Thursday.

“I have already written a letter to Chidambaram in this regard and will follow it up in order to get additional force without delay,” he told reporters before his departure for Delhi on Dussehra vacation.

The state government had sought seven battalions (about 7,000 personnel) from the Centre for deployment in Maoist infested southern districts such as Malkangiri,Koraput,Rayagada and Gajapati.

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“I will convince Chidambaram about Orissa’s requirements,including additional central para-military force (CPMF),to carry out anti-Maoist operation in southern Orissa,” Patnaik said.

Stating that additional seven battalions for the state was “urgent”,he said the Centre should cooperate with the state in its bid to fight the Red Rebels.

Experts,including senior police officers,in the state feel that a joint operation comprising the central and state forces like those at Lalgarh area in West Bengal and Dantewada in Chhattisgargh,would be effective for Orissa.

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