Malkangiri: Year on,war with Naxals far from over

On January 22,when the BSFs 107 battalion set up a camp near Janbai ghat the gateway to the cut-off areas of Kudumulgumma block in the Maoist heartland of Malkangiri

On January 22,when the BSFs 107 battalion set up a camp near Janbai ghat the gateway to the cut-off areas of Kudumulgumma block in the Maoist heartland of Malkangiri there were several happy faces among top policemen battling the Naxals. The BSF officials repainted the 10 ft-long brick-red Maoist memorial built in the memory of slain Maoist leader Chemkuri Rajkumar alias Azad to blue,green,white and red resembling the BSF logo. The police were happy at the symbolism,believing that it was just a matter of time before the Maoist base in the cut-off area 150-odd villages separated from mainland by Balimela reservoir since the 1960s fell.

On February 16 last year,the then district collector R Vineel Krishna was abducted along with junior engineer Pabitra Majhi at Jantapai village of the cut-off area. Krishna and Majhi were released after nine days of negotiation,bringing the anti-Maoist operations in Malkangiri to a grinding halt.

A year after that,the euphoria in police over early successes in their battle with the Maoists evaporated when the rebels set off landmine blast on the Balimela-Chitrakonda road killing four BSF jawans,including Commandant of 107 battalion Jeevan Ram Keswan and Deputy Commandant Rajesh Saran,on February 10.

The State Election Commission quickly postponed the panchayat polls at Nakamamudi grampanchayat in Korkunda block,where the blast had occurred. The violence came just a day before the first-phase of the three-tier panchayat polls.

The rebels had pasted handwritten and printed posters in Jantapai exhorting people to boycott panchayat polls on February 19.

In Malkangiri,which sits on a tri-junction of Naxal-affected Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh,the recent blast underlined how little things have changed in the one year since Krishna was abducted.

To think that the Maoists are losing in Malkangiri just because some central committee member was killed is far from the truth. That they could kill a commandant and had intimate knowledge of his tour plans shows that they are one up against us, said a police official in Chitrakonda block,25 km from the site of the blast.

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Sometimes they win,sometimes we win. The battle is far from over, said Sanjeeb Panda,Inspector General anti-Naxal intelligence.

After the BSF put up their camp near Janbai ghat,villagers had said that it instilled a sense of security. But in the interiors of Jantapai,the Maoist fear reigns supreme though villagers talk how they want development. Krishnas abduction cast a shadow on developmental work in the area. There has been no NREGS work in Jantapai and other villages of the cut-off area since the day he was abducted,bringing down the NREGS expenditure to Rs 15 crore in 2011-12 from Rs 50 crore in 2010-11. No government official has visited the area barring immunisation and PDS staff.

Dhana Sunabesia,a tribal youth from Papermetla village said that youths here need jobs. That the tribals want a good life is evident from the products sold at the weekly haat at Jantapai. At the haat,packets of Nirma Shuddh salt,Vasmol Kesh Kala,7UP home pack jostle for space with vegetables and Preetam washing soap.

In Doliamba village,from where Krishna was taken in a procession after his release,the love for the former collector has not been dimmed. He tried to bring us development, said Doma Pangi.

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The area has,however,notched up success in electrification. When Krishna was abducted soon after he switched on the lights at Siligumma,making it the first among the 151 villages of the cut-off area to be electrified,everyone feared it was the end of the road. But in the last one year,15 villages,including all 122 houses in Jantapai,have been electrified.

DC Balwant Singh wants to set up of a supermarket near Janbai ghat. People can get rice and other items there and wont need to travel miles to get provisions. We are working on a special package that will ensure this becomes one of the top 10 districts of Orissa, he said.