Bhubaneswar, July 11: Maoists appear to have committed a grave tactical error by stepping up violence in the last few days during which at least five persons including a police constable and a homeguard were killed.

While the blood letting by the rebels has drawn criticism even from their sympathisers who have appealed for restraint, it has justified the resumption of police operation against them by the state government.

Now the interlocutors, who had negotiated with the government in the wake of former Malkangiri collector R. Vineel Krishna’s abduction by the Maoists, are clearly on the back foot, though they are still trying to put up a brave face.

“We regret that the government did not act promptly on the agreement and violated it by carrying on combing operation and killing the Maoists. If the government had acted promptly and observed restraint, in our view, there would have been greater peace,” said professor G. Hargopal and Dandpani Mohapatra referring to 14-point accord that had paved the way for the release of Krishna.

However, they found it hard to suppress their disappointment over the sudden spurt in Maoist violence. “These killings vitiate the overall process. We appeal to the Maoist party that they should attach utmost importance to human life and desist from such actions,” said the two interlocutors who have been trying hard to salvage the agreement that now virtually lies in tatters.

The Maoists, who at one stage had accused the government of violating the agreement by re-launching combing operation stalled in the wake of Krishna’s abduction, are now themselves in the dock having gunned down innocent people besides two policemen. There was hardly any justification for the killing of civilians in Rayagada district except the fact that the rebels believe in terror paying dividends. But, in the long run, such tactics may end up eroding the rebel base even in their known bastions such as Rayagada, Malkangiri and Koraput where despite recurrent blood letting by the Maoists the number of people willing to pass on information to the police seems to be rising.

The spurt in violence is believed to be a sign of growing desperation among the Maoists whose ranks have thinned during the last few months following a spate of arrests and surrenders. Sources said that the rebels want the surrenders to stop at all costs which is the reason why they killed one of their colleagues who was all set to lay down arms in Malkangiri district.