Orissa reviews anti-Maoist operation strategy

BHUBANESWAR - The Orissa Government has discussed better coordination between central para-military forces and the police for anti-Maoist operations.

Talking to reporters after Thursday’s meeting, state Chief Secretary B K Patnaik said: “.”The meeting was mostly on forging coordination among the Orissa police, the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).”

“We discussed various issues involved in coordination among the different agencies, which are involved in these operations. So, we have sorted out many of these problems and we will be taking stock of the situation after a month,” he added.

“We will hold meetings frequently to ensure that there is proper coordination among the forces engaged in anti-Maoist operations in the state,” he said.

“The meeting, however, did not take any decision on appointment of a major general for the unified command,” he added.

The Development Commissioner (DC), Principal Secretary (Home), Director General of Police (DGP), Inspector General (Operations) of CRPF, Inspector General Operations of State Police, representatives of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Inspector General of the state Intelligence wing are the members of the Unified Command.

The meeting also discussed recent killings by the Maoists in Koraput and Malkangiri districts of the state.

Koraput District, located around 500 km away from the state capital Bhubaneswar, is considered a Maoist stronghold. The Maoists have killed at least seven in different parts of the district in the past one-month.

Maoist attacks have become more frequent this year, especially after the central government launched ‘Operation Green Hunt’, a coordinated security offensive involving tens of thousands of police and paramilitary personnel to flush out the rebels from their jungle hideouts. (ANI)