Two days after 17 Orissa policemen were ambushed and killed in Malkangiri district of Orissa, ground-level policemen in Malkangiri have raised the banner of revolt against their seniors for making them “sacrificial lambs” in the hands of rebels.On Thursday, the jawans did not allow Deputy Inspector General of Police (south-western range) Sanjib Panda and District Superintendent of Police Satish Gajbhiye to pay homage to the killed policemen.As Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday spoke of strengthening intelligence and training for the policemen, large sections of the cops say the government is only mouthing platitudes. Secretary of Orissa Havildar and Constable Mahasangh Sawarmal Sharma said after the Malkangiri attack that a feeling is slowly growing among the jawans that they are the ones who will die in the war with Maoists. “Our morale is surely low. Why is the government not sending an IG-level police officer to Malkangiri permanently for overseeing the battle against the Maoists? Why should the SOG unit not be transferred to Malkangiri from Bhubaneswar,” he asked.Sharma said the current procedure of transferring a police official to a non-Maoist posting after three years of service in a Maoist area was not being followed properly. “Reserve inspector Sarat Mishra, who was killed in the landmine blast, was due for transfer to Bhubaneswar as head of the Special Operation Group unit. But he could not be relieved for three months as nobody was ready to come here. Similarly, in 2006, Motu police station in-charge Durga Madhab Mishra was shot dead by the Maoists. He was also transferred, but could not be relieved as no one was ready to come in his place,” he said.The junior policemen said that the special intelligence wing of the State police, formed to keep track of Maoist activities, has failed completely, which was leading to large-scale casualties in the lower-level police force. “Without any intelligence inputs, police are being deployed, making them sitting ducks,” he said.Another problem faced by the lower-level policemen is the constant apprehension of danger to the lives of their near and dear ones. “The police stations may have been fortified, but what about the residential quarters,” he asked. “The Government guideline that a cop posted in a Maoist area can retain Government accommodation in Bhubaneswar or Cuttack to keep his family is not being followed. How can a cop fight with the Maoists in these circumstances?”
