The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Joint combing by Orissa-Andhra police

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 23, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Joint combing by Orissa-Andhra police

By Santosh Patnaik

VISAKHAPATNAM, FEB. 22. Braving constant threat of landmines, the Orissa police have stepped up guerrilla warfare in coordination with their counterparts in Andhra Pradesh to hunt down Maoists.

Buoyed by their success in tracking a training camp near Sileru on Sunday, the Orissa police have decided to continue guerrilla warfare to locate some more training camps. During Sunday's operation, the naxalites set off six landmines to target the police but in vain.

Despite difficult hilly terrain, the anti-naxal squad set up by Orissa has received information that some more training camps are being run by the Maoists in the Dandakaranya area. Parts of Dandakaranya fall in Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, which come under the CPI (Maoist) Andhra-Orissa Border (AOB) Zone.

Taking a cue from the `success story' of Greyhounds -- the elite anti-naxal force of Andhra Pradesh -- Orissa has also set up a unit of Greyhounds -- the second in India -- at Malkangiri.

For all operational purposes, the district headquarters of Malkangiri in south Orissa is strategically located and has close access to Andhra Pradesh as well as Chhattisgarh. Training for two batches of policemen has already been completed and another will commence shortly.

Apart from local guerrilla squads, the Maoists are allegedly indulging in extortion and attacking Government properties in Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada and other areas of Orissa through Kalimela, Balimela and Motu dalams and guerilla squads of Jana Natya Mandali.

``We are very happy with the support extended by the AP Police. However, the lull in naxal activity during the peace initiative undertaken by the AP Government became counter-productive for us as the Maoists indulged in massive recruitment drive in our State,'' the Orissa DSP (operations), Subhas Mohapatra, told The Hindu on Tuesday.

Sileru, located on the border of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh, has become a nerve centre for Maoist training camps. During Sunday's raid, the joint police party of the two States killed two naxalites and arrested two. They also seized several grenades.

According to intelligence sources, before their simultaneous attack on Anakapalle and Chodavaram police stations three years ago, the naxalites had a dry run in the thick forests of Vepudrupodole, about 15 km from Sileru. Before the actual attack, they had a multi-raid on dummy police stations at the training camp.

In a joint operation two years ago, an arms manufacturing unit where several rocket launchers were recovered, was raided. Greyhounds personnel had to be air-dropped near Sileru from Hyderabad as part of the operation.

``They change their strategies frequently. Once we locate a camp, they abandon the area for several years. For instance, they fled the place after blasting their camp at Chaparala some time ago. We are also gearing up to counter their tactics,'' Mr. Mohapatra said.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Andhra Pradesh