Bhubaneswar, June 8: Bad blood between Orissa police and the central paramilitary forces continues to hamper anti-Maoist operations in the state.
Sources said that the situation was the worst in Malkangiri, a known Maoist bastion, where there was growing bitterness between the local policemen and the Border Security Force jawans deployed in the district. With almost all the police stations in the district having been converted into BSF camps, the district police force had virtually been rendered “homeless.”
“Police stations once controlled by our men are now the stronghold of BSF jawans who treat the locals with scant respect. The policemen are mostly found loitering around aimlessly. Their morale is down and they secretly resent the bossy ways of the BSF men in battle fatigues,” said a businessman in Mottu where the cold war between the state police and the central troopers is most visible.
Though police officials are unwilling to comment on the situation for obvious reasons, local residents admit that the prevailing mistrust between the two groups has become a major impediment to operation against the Maoists who were taking advantage of the situation.
It was this situation which had emboldened them to kidnap former collector R. Vineel Krishna in February. The success rate of the security forces in curbing the Maoist menace in the district can be gauged from the fact they have managed to kill only one rebel since the kidnapping incident, said a source.
The situation was not much different in the neighbouring Koraput district. Here too, the BSF has been deployed in strength to assist the anti-Maoist operation which they have virtually taken over from the local policemen. But they have achieved but little success in reining in the Maoist-backed Chasi Muliya Adivasi Sangh (CMAS), which has snatched away hundreds of acres of land from the area’s non-tribal landlords.
During the last few months, the Maoists have also killed two persons in Narayanpatna block and its adjoining areas where the CMAS movement against the landlords has been the strongest.
“The terror of the CMAS has forced people to flee their homes and take shelter in neighbouring area. They have even gone to Bhubaneswar and held dharnas there to draw government’s attention to their plight. What then are BSF and police doing in the area?” asked a youth from the area. Sources said that as the situation worsens with lack of coordination between state and central forces becoming increasingly apparent, officials were trying hard to bring about an understanding between them and hoped for the best.
