Bhubaneswar, June 22: More than anything else, it is Orissa’s porous border with its neighbours, which is to blame for the spiralling Maoist violence in the state.
The long border which the state shares with Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Bengal remains highly vulnerable to infiltration by the Maoists who are looking to strengthen their hold on Orissa.
The vulnerability of the border to Maoist incursions from the neighbouring states has been proved time and again, most recently following the massacre of nine Chhattisgarh police jawans in the Sunabeda wildlife sanctuary stretching right up to the extreme end of Nuapada district.
Officials here admitted that fool proof sealing of the borders has not been possible even in the wake of major strikes by the radicals in the past. “After each such incident, joint combing operations are launched and border are sought to be closed but this happens more in theory than in practice,” said an official on conditions of anonymity.
The issue of huge security gaps at the border has come into focus following the scaled up Maoist activity in newer districts such as Balangir, Kalahandi and Nuapada, all close to the Chhattisgarh, which remains the strongest Red bastion in the country. The fact that the rebels have been relentless pushing into these districts has been conclusively proved following yesterday’s encounter in Khaprakhol block of Balangir district, in which a woman Maoist was killed and more than 100 detonators were seized by the security forces.
Combing operations have been intensified, not only in Balangir, but also in some other known rebel strongholds such as Rayagada, where police are reported to have seized a large cache of arms and ammunitions today, though no arrests have been made as yet. “Now there is hardly any doubt left that Maoists from Chhattisgarh are entering the state via Nuapada and pushing further upwards towards Balangir and Kalahandi. This, in fact, is a continuous belt and if they are able to establish a hold in the area their interstate operations would become that much easier,” a senior police officer said.
According to sources, the Orissa government finds itself more or less helpless as far as plugging the holes at the border is concerned as this requires equal cooperation from the neighbouring governments whose willingness depends upon the situation in their states.
“Though joint combing operations on the border have become the norm, it is not always up to our satisfaction. But we cannot force others to toe our line,” said an official, adding that the only ray of hope now was the assurance of support from the Union home minister, P. Chidambaram, who appeared keen to wipe out Maoist menace from the country.
