Personnel of the anti-Maoist force deployed in Malkangiri. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, April 25: With the 14-point agreement that paved the way for the release of Malkangiri collector, R. Vineel Krishna, lying in tatters, battle lines have been drawn afresh between the Orissa government and the Maoists.

While the state drew the first blood with security forces gunning down a woman Maoist in Malkangiri on Sunday, signs of a massive mobilisation by the radicals were evident today with Chasi Muliya Adivasi Sangh (CMAS), an organisation supported by them, organising a rally in Koraput district addressed, among others, by human rights activist, Prof. G. Hargopal and top Maoist ideologue, Varvara Rao.

Prof. Hargopal was one of the architects of the 14-point agreement, which has now become a bone of contention between the Maoists and the government.

Koraput superintendent of police Anup Sahu confirmed the presence of Rao and Hargopal, apart from the elusive CMAS chief, Nachika Linga, at the rally held at Kakurpeta village under Bandhugaon police limits in Koraput.

“It was a big gathering of around four to five thousand people. We are trying to gather the details,” said Sahu, adding that police did not make any attempt to stop the rally as it could have provoked a confrontation.

“Once we have the details, we will decide if any action was to be taken against the participants,” the SP said.

Significantly, CMAS chief Nachika Linga is high on the wanted list of the police. Notwithstanding a warrant against him, he has been addressing his followers off and on in the Narayanpatna area where the organisation has snatched away several hundred acres of land from non-tribal landlords.

Police sources said that Dandpani Mohanty, who along with Prof. Hargopal and Prof. Someswar Rao, had held negotiations with the state government in the wake of Vineel Krishna’s abduction, was also present at the CMAS rally. The three interlocutors had written a letter to chief minister Naveen Patnaik on April 21 expressing their anguish at the delay in the implementation of the 14-point accord which, they felt, would erode the credibility of the government.

The letter, in particular, sought to draw Naveen’s attention to the urgent need for releasing more than 600 tribals languishing in jails on false charges and the government’s assurance not to use force against the Maoists till they resort to violence.

Meanwhile, security forces stepped up their drive against the Maoists intensifying combing throughout Malkangiri district and its adjoining areas.

Sources said that police and BFF jawans accompanied by the members of District Voluntary Force (DVF) scoured several densely forested areas close to Andhra Pradesh border where the rebels have been ruling the roost for past sometime now.

“Combing is going on not only in the area where the forces gunned down a Maoist yesterday but almost throughout the district. We have no intentions of letting our guard down,” said Malkangiri police chief Aniruddha Singh.

While the bulk of the force was still concentrated in the Orkel police station area, where a woman Maoist was killed early on Sunday following a fierce encounter, police and BSF jawans were also searching tribal hamlets in the hilly areas under Gobindpalli, Chitrakonda and Kalimela police stations.