Paradise lost for ultras

Visakhapatnam: Gaining access into the highly inaccessible ‘cut-off –areas’ in the Odisha’s Malkangiri district by the elite security agencies engaged in combing operations proved to be a major setback for the Maoists leading to the Monday’s bloody encounter.

It is certainly a cause for concern for the Andhra Odisha Chittisgadh Borders (AOCB) squad of the party headed by Gajarla Ravi which claims to be enjoying sway over the cut-off area situated close to Chitrakonda forest area.

The cut-off area with over 150 villages which remained cut-off as its very name suggests after the construction of Balimela dam is considered as a strong bastion of the Maoists.

The area has been under the control of Ravi, a native of Warangal district who was drafted by the CPI (Maoists) to lead the AOCB squad, for over a decade, according to information.

It is in the same area where Malkangiri Collector Vineel Krishna was kidnapped by Maoists a few years ago.
As per the preliminary details available from the encounter scene, there were 50-plus senior functionaries from the Maoist party holding a plenary at the strategic location under three layers of security when the armed forces from the AP and Odisha launched a sudden attack in the wee hours which was believed to have lasted for more than a couple of hours.

The police believe that the encounter delivered a major blow to the Maoists who lost four central committee members. In all, the party lost 24 committed workers. The police suffered a similar blow at the hands of Maoists in 2008 .

It may be recalled that 34 armed personnel met a watery grave in the reservoir in an attack by the extremists while the former were returning in launches after completing combing operations.

After the construction of the Balimela reservoir, the tribal habitations were cut off from the road transport.

The only mode of transport for them is boat through the reservoir. In view of this geographical conditions, it became a safe haven for the Maoists to continue with their guerilla warfare.

The Odisha DGP in May last directed the state police to storm into the cut-off areas at a review meeting in Bhubaneswar.

The cut-off area is under an active surveillance of the Maoists and it will become a deadly trap for the police if they try to reach out to the target areas by boat through the reservoir as was evident in 2008. Although, there is another way through Munchingput forest, it is a rough and hilly terrain all along.

The Odisha government is building a bridge across river Gurupriya under the security cover of the BSF so that the Odisha police could also have a direct access to the cut-off areas.

With the daunting task of the police finally became a success, it proved to be a paradise lost for the Maoists.