Bhubaneswar, June 15: Heavy rain lashing parts of south Odisha poses challenge to security forces in their anti-Maoist operations in districts such as Malkangiri and Koraput, which are considered Red bastions.

Koraput superintendent of police Charan Singh Meena said that though the security personnel were bound to encounter the rain-induced problems, their morale remained high. "They are used to operating in all weather conditions," he said.

His Malkangiri counterpart, Mitrabhanu Mohapatra, said monsoon rain could impact long-term operations, but "our men will go about their job as usual".

However, sources in Koraput and Malkangiri said heavy showers in several parts of these districts damaged roads and forest tracks making the security movement difficult.

"This happens every year though police officers may not admit it as they have to keep the morale of their jawans high," said a source, who did not wish to be named.

Rain, said sources, sometimes force security forces to stop patrolling during the evening hours as the visibility becomes low.

Mounting any major operations in bad weather conditions is always a risk as the Maoists know the forest and hilly terrain of districts such as Koraput and Malkangiri better than the security forces.

The rebels have stepped up their activities in these districts targeting mainly alleged police informers.

On May 1, the Maoists killed an alleged police informer at Tamaguda village in Malkangiri even as a group of security forces got engaged in a gunfight with the rebels in the district's Kurub forest. The rebels called the deceased, Deba Madkami, out of his house and shot him.

The incident had followed the murder of two other alleged police informers in the district. Mohapatra had described the killings as senseless violence with the sole aim of striking terror among the people, who opposed their activities. "They are killing innocent people by branding them as informers," he had said.

The security forces are also keeping tabs on the Malkangiri-Chhattisgarh border in the wake of the killing of 25 CRPF jawans in the neighbouring state in April. The jawans had been ambushed at a village of Sukma district near Malkangiri while providing security cover to an ongoing road construction project.

The security forces, however, had a major success against the rebels last year when they gunned down 24 of them during an encounter in Malkangiri.

Among the dead was Munna, son of CPI (Maoist) central committee member Ramakrishna.