Bhubaneswar, Oct. 20: Maoists are reported to have launched a massive recruitment drive in Malkangiri and the neighbouring Koraput district where sustained police operations had depleted their cadre strength.

Sources said rebels have been holding recruitment camps in the interior areas of the two districts where the police and paramilitary forces often find themselves handicapped by the difficult terrain and poor intelligence set-up.

In the past few weeks, camps have been organised in the inaccessible “cut-off” area of Malkangiri district and in parts of Narayanpatna and Bandhugaon blocks of Koraput.

Some of these camps, where the new recruits were also subjected to indoctrination in the Maoist ideology, were attended by a large number of tribal youths who have been driven into the lap of the rebels by unemployment.

“The tribals are promised money and weapons, which makes them fall for the offer of the Maoists. The Odisha government has been able to do little about it,” said an officer.

The “cut-off” area in Malkangiri, which is inhabited by around 30,000 people, has been the happy hunting ground of the Maoists since the district administration has no presence there.

District officials have been wary of stepping into the area ever since former collector R. Vineel Krishna was kidnapped by the rebels from a village there in February 2011.

“The complete absence of the administration means that the area remains as underdeveloped as ever. This suits the game plan of the Maoists who are not only able to whip up anti-government sentiments among the tribal residents but also recruit them as their foot soldiers,” said an official, admitting that the government had failed to do its bit for the development of the region, which is among the most backward areas of Odisha.