Maoist Dump Recovered From Andhra-Odisha Border Area in Malkangiri District

BY

BHUBANESWAR, DEC. 25: A Maoist dump was revered by a joint team of district voluntary force (DVF) and special operations group (SOG) personnel following a search operation at a place under Kalimela police limits in Malkangiri district on Sunday evening, a police source said monday.

Based on specific information received from a reliable source, the team carried out an intensive search at the place bordering Andhra-Odisha, resulting in the uncovering of a major Maoist dump in a forest near Kurmanur village at about 5 PM.

This led to the recovery and seizure of a huge cache of ammunition, IEDs, and other Maoist articles, a press release issued in this regard mentioned.

A border district flanked by Andhra Pradesh in the south and Chhattisgarh in the west, Malkangiri district still remains a safe haven for the Left-Wing Extremism elements and throws a serious challenge to security personnel to contain them. Its hilly terrains and cut-off areas inside the Chitrakonda reservoir provide an ideal atmosphere for the rebels.

The rebels, knowing well that inaccessibility of the region is a boon for them, did not cooperate with the district administration for decades to construct a bridge over the Gurupriya river at Janbai to connect the cut-off areas with the mainland. However, the state government’s persistent effort paid off on July 26, 2018 when chief minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated the bridge foundation of which was given 34 years ago. As many 151 cut-off villages, detached from the mainland for over five decades, were connected with the outer world.

Malkangiri, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Rayagada, Boudh, Kandhamal, Nuapara, Bolangir and Sundergarh districts are still having some presence of the outlawed CPI (Maoist) activists. Inadequate mobile connectivity often works in favour of these elements as it affects exchange of information among the state police and paramilitary forces deployed in the areas.

The Malkangiri Division of the Maoists functions under the Andhra Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee of the outlawed CPI (Maoist).