Maoists are busy carving out a new corridor in Odisha, thanks to intense patrolling and movement of Central and State Police forces.
Maoists are trying to create a new corridor through the jungles of Boudh, Kandhmal and Nayagarh district, police personnel engaged in anti-Maoist activities revealed.
Due to sustained pressure from the security forces in Chhatisgarh and ineffectiveness of local cadres, the top Maoist cadres are shifting to Odisha to strengthen their base, said sources.
Senior police officials have begun devising ways to curb Maoist activities in the State after receipt of intelligence inputs.
DGP Sanjeev Marik recently held discussion with DIGP Southern Range Amitabh Thakur and SPs of Kandhamal, Boudh and other nearby districts regarding Maoist infiltrations.
Notably, the cadre strength of Maoists in State has been gradually decreasing due to effective surveillance by security forces. The cadre strength has downed to 150 from nearly 500, sources added.
More and more tribals and other people are shunning path of violence and returning to mainstream making it difficult for the Maoist leaders to enroll new members.
The State Government has been encouraging tribal youths to join the District Voluntary Force (DVF) which has created setbacks for the Red rebel leaders. On the other hand, Maoists from Chhattishgarh have been finding it hard to expand their bases in Odisha as they lack knowledge of language and lifestyle of the local tribals, sources added.
Notably, the influence of Maoists in Gajapati, Rayagada and Ganjam districts has been on the wane for the past few months since the arrest of the Odisha Maobadi Party (OMP) Chief Sabyasachi Panda.
While OMP has turned a non-existent entity in southern zone of the State, a handful of cadres, who had come to these districts from Andhra Pradesh to revive their activities, have returned due to increased surveillance of security forces.
Sources further informed that the State Government is re-deploying more Central forces in the newly carved out corridor and trying to curb Maoist menace.