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Naxalite offensive underplayed?

BHUBANESWAR: Is the Naveen Patnaik Government underplaying Sunday’s Maoist attack in the Chitrakonda reservoir in Malkangiri district? The answer seems to be in the affirmative.

Two days after a boat carrying more than 60 Greyhound personnel from Andhra Pradesh was attacked by extremists, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik sought the help of the Central Government for deployment of more Central forces in Malkangiri to control the naxal menace.

According to an official release, the Chief Minister requested the Centre for deployment of another six companies of Central Reserve Police Force in Malkangiri saying it would help in intensifying combing operation in the area.

Even though several top officials of Andhra Pradesh police, including the Director-General of Police, had visited Chitrakonda by Tuesday, there was no such response from the State police. Sunabeda Deputy Inspector-General Sanjib Panda and Malkangiri Superintendent of Police Satish Kumar Gajbhiye were the two senior officers in the area to tackle the situation.

All that the State Government said in a statement on Tuesday evening was that efforts were on to track down the Maoists who were involved in the attack.

While intelligence failure was stated to be the major reason for the attack, State Home Secretary Tarunkanti Mishra told reporters earlier in the day that a tactical error on the part of the Greyhound force had led to the incident.

The Greyhound personnel should have avoided the water route to reach Chitrakonda or sailed in small groups, Mr. Mishra said. The timing of the journey was also faulty, he observed.

Whatever the truth, Sunday’s attack has exposed the State Government’s claim that it was doing everything to contain Maoist menace in Malkangiri.

When the Nayagarh arms loot was still fresh in everybody’s mind, the Chitrakonda attack has certainly come as an embarrassment for the Sate Government.

Since last reports came in at least 36 persons – 35 Greyhound personnel and one boatman of Orissa – were missing, and the boat that was attacked by the extremists had also not been traced.

Interestingly, the State Government moved one step forward in the evening to hide its failures. As in the past, it released a comparative violence profile of the naxalite-infested states such as Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa. It claimed that the Maoist menace was more acute in the other states compared to Orissa.

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