Bhubaneswar, May 17: State police are set to intensify combing operations in the Maoist-dominated areas of Malkangiri and Koraput districts ahead of the onset of monsoon, which is expected to hit the state in mid-June.
Security forces step up efforts to flush out rebels around this time before the rains hamper operations.
Malkangiri superintendent of police Mitrabhanu Mohapatra said the district police would ramp up its anti-rebel drive before the rain-enforced slowdown of security efforts against them. "Though we are prepared for combing operations under all conditions, rain can be an impediment. We have to keep this factor in mind," he said.
His Koraput counterpart Charan Singh Meena said combing was generally an intelligence-based operation and could be intensified or slowed down depending on the situation. "Our forces can adapt to different situations and weather conditions," he said. Both Malkangiri and Koraput, which share borders with rebel-dominated areas of Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh, are Maoist bastions. On May 1, the rebels killed an alleged police informer at Tamaguda village in Malkangiri as the Maoists and police engaged in a gunfight in the district's Kurub forest. The rebels called the deceased, Deba Madkami, out of his house and shot him.
The incident had followed the murder of two other alleged police informers. According to sources, the rebels use these killings to strike terror among people who oppose their activities. Mohapatra described the killings as senseless violence.
"They are killing innocent people by branding them as informers," he said.
The security forces are also keeping a close watch on the Malkangiri-Chhattisgarh border in the wake of the killing of 25 CRPF jawans last month. The jawans were ambushed in a village Sukma, close to Malkangiri, while providing security cover to an ongoing road construction project.
Last year, security forces gunned down 24 rebels, including some senior leaders, during an encounter with the Maoists in Malkangiri. Among the dead was Munna, son of CPI (Maoist) central committee member Ramakrishna.
