Bhubaneswar, Oct. 4: The Maoists are on a recruitment spree in Koraput and its three adjoining districts. The recruitment drive comes in the wake of a series of reverses the rebels have suffered in the last few months leading to depletion of their cadre strength.
Worried about the erosion of their cadre base in the wake of more than a dozen arrests and surrenders, the Maoist leadership has begun recruiting young tribal boys and girls in Koraput, Malkangiri, Rayagada and Nabarangpur which were once part of a single undivided district, said sources.
The rebel leadership is said to be working extra hard in Nabarangpur where they have become active in the past few months. The district was in news recently when a ruling Biju Janata Dal MLA was shot dead by suspected Maoists while distributing land documents to people at a village.
Though security forces have intensified combing operations in Nabarangpur, specially in the areas bordering Chhattisgarh, the Maoists continue to work on consolidating their base in the district. Sources said rebels from Chhattisgarh are keen on pushing deeper into Nabarangpur as it would give them access to other districts of the state including Kalahandi and Balangir.
Though police officials are reluctant to admit that the Maoists are on a recruitment drive, sources said the rebels were using all kinds of baits to attract apprentices.
A source said prospective recruits were being promised money and free food, apart from guns, which symbolise ultimate power in these areas. The desperate rebels are apparently using all the tricks in the bag.
The leadership has also identified safe jungle hideouts for organising training camps. There are many in the forests of Koraput, Malkangiri and Rayagada that share borders with Andhra Pradesh.
In the event of police raiding a camp, the recruits can be safely shifted to safe places across the border. The forests of Andhra Pradesh are quite safe, said the source.
The Maoist leadership is keen to avenge the death of some of its cadres in police encounters in the recent past.
“They are most upset over the death of a woman cadre who fell to police bullets in Malkangiri district soon after security forces resumed their operation against the rebels in May. They feel it was an act of treachery on part of the government,” said an official posted in Koraput.
Police officials, though worried about the recruitment drive, are reluctant to comment on the issue. They maintain that the security forces are ready to meet any kind of challenge.