With forest routes left open, Maoists from Chhattisgarh are sneaking into Odisha in large numbers and are hiding in several dense forests, including an ecotourism centre like Debrigarh.
The Maoist activities are observed in Debrigarh, which is one of the most famous eco-tourism centres of the State and boasts of dense forests and rich biodiversity.
The Maoists are taking forest routes and walking miles and miles to reach the hot spot of ecotourism in the Sambalpur-Bargarh zones, sources revealed.
Sources said that the top cops serving in the Northern Range of State Police are continuing their vigil on the movement of the Maoists.
The ultras are hiding in several other forests and trying to build their strength and return Chhattisgarh as and when it will be conducive for them. Intelligence inputs revealed that with Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) having started massive anti-Maoist operations in Chhattisgarh, the ultras are quietly sneaking into forests of neighbouring State of Odisha.
The CRPF has started large scale operations in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand after the Left Wing Extremists (LWE)s have killed CRPF Jawans in of the neighbouring State.
So the ultras are infiltrating through forest routes as those are left unplugged.
This is because the Odisha Government has repeatedly asked the Union Government to deploy two more battalions of the Central Armed Police Force to cover the border zones of the State.
Deployment of CAPFs in Chhattisgarh and Odisha is highly uneven as there are 65 battalions of the Central forces, where as in Odisha it is only 16. In fact, the intelligence officers all LWE activities that taking place in the State are committed by ultras hailing from either Chhattisgarh or Jharkhand, admitted police.
As the Maoist organizations fail to motivate youths from Odisha, they are deputing cadres from Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand to run their show, they said.
Odisha youths are disenchanted with Maoists and they are not joining the organisation and those have joined earlier are quietly leaving their fold, said top cops engaged in anti-insurgency operations.
With border region open and forest routes available for infiltration, more Left cadres are moving into Odisha, making those areas endangered for people. Under this backdrop, it is high time that Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) allocated two more battalions of Central Security Forces to the State as soon as possible, said officials.
While in Odisha one battalion of CoBRA of CRPF was raised and has been taken away for deployment in Chhattisgarh, Home Secretary Asit Tripathy raised the issue with Union Government and demanded for redeployment in Koraput.
However, the MHA is yet to respond over the matter and State Government is awaiting for response, said sources.
