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New tactics, deadly result

The murderous attack on Andhra Pradesh’s anti-naxalite force, the Greyhounds, marks a new watershed in Maoist insurgency. This is the first time that so many Andhra Pradesh security personnel (at least 33) have been killed in a single encounter. The policemen evidently walked into a well-laid trap, enticed with false information about a naxalite conclave in Malkangiri in Orissa. If the attack was totally unexpected, it was partly because it marked a tactical departure; rather than use landmines and typical ploys such as ambushes and raids, the Maoists are believed to have employed rocket launchers to hit a launch ferrying the policemen back. Greyhounds have been targeted before; in fact, this is the second attack on the elite squad in recent months, the previous one also set up by laying a trap. On May 28, one Greyhound was killed in the forests near Vishakapatnam, a toll the police admitted could have been much higher had the Maoists’ plan fully succeeded.

The Greyhounds were constituted in 1989 as an elite anti-naxalite force equipped to penetrate inaccessible and inhospitable areas and stay in such places for long periods. While its beginnings were modest, the force has grown substantially with two sub-headquarters, a regional training centre, and as many as 40 assault units. Specialised training, modern weaponry, advanced communication systems, and a flexible operational strategy have given the group the qualities of speed, strength, and surprise. In March 2008, the force conducted one of the biggest counter-insurgency operations in the heart of the Bastar forests in Chhattisgarh, killing 17 Maoist guerrillas and recovering a huge cache of arms in precision raids. What the recent attack has done is to shatter the aura of near-invincibility the force has enjoyed. In fact, the Greyhounds have been held up by the central government as an example of the kind of elite formation required to effectively combat the naxalite threat. Neighbouring States such as Orissa and Chhattisgarh have routinely invited the force to conduct ‘joint operations’ in their naxalite-affected areas. This year has been a bad one for Orissa; the attacks in Nayagarh and Ganjam districts on the night of February 15 claimed the lives of 13 policemen. Add the deaths in the recent attack and the picture is grim indeed. Perhaps complacency set in because only two security personnel were killed last year in Maoist attacks in the State.

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