Bhubaneswar, Nov. 5: Senior security advisor in Union home ministry K. Vijay Kumar today patted Odisha and Andhra Pradesh police for their successful operation against Maoists in Malkangiri on October 24 saying that it was an excellent example of a synergetic strike that had hit the rebels hard in what was once considered their bastion.

"Malkangiri is a difficult area. But the number of Maoists has come down in the district following the synergetic operation of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha police," Kumar told newspersons here following a closed-door meeting with chief minister Naveen Patnaik which he described as a "courtesy call".

However, the meeting is being seen as significant in view of the state's stepped up operations against the rebels with the morale of security forces high in the wake of the Malkangiri encounter in which 28 Maoists, including some of their senior leaders, were killed. Among those gunned down by the joint team of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh in the "cut-off" area of the district were Daya, a member of Andhra-Odisha Special Border Zonal Committee of the CPI-Maoist, and Munna, son of Ramakrishna, a central committee member of the banned outfit.

Kumar also visited the Chandaka camp of Special Operations Group (SOG) today and held discussions with the state's chief secretary and the home secretary. Sources in the government said he was keen to finalise the blueprint for an all-out operation against the rebels with perfect coordination between state police and central paramilitary forces. Home secretary Asit Tripathy later informed newspersons that issues such as the state's preparedness to combat the Maoist menace with its administrative and logistical aspects were discussed at the meeting.

Kumar, a former CRPF director general, also laid emphasis on the need for more Malkangiri-like operations against the Maoists who, he said, had no legal or moral right to keep arms and ammunition with them.

"There is no change in the Maoist policy. They continue to fight with weapons. They talk of revenge and whenever we conduct a successful operation against them they call it stage-managed," he said, adding that a consensus over talks with the rebels was yet to be evolved.

Sources in the government said Kumar would also hold discussions with senior CRPF and Odisha State Armed Police (OSAP) officers and review the role of these forces in anti-Maoist operations in the state. CRPF director general K. Durga Prasad is likely to be present at the meeting though an official confirmation in this regard was awaited till this evening.