The Ministry of Home Affairs’ (MHA) decision to allow the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana police a free hand in anti-Maoist operations has dealt a big blow to the banned ultras. As many as 30 Maoists, including some top leaders, were killed in two spells of encounters in the thick forests of Odisha’s Malkangiri district on 24-26 October. This is a huge loss for the Maoists who are trying to regroup and consolidate their base in the border zone of AP, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Maharashtra, also called the Dandakaranya, so that they can expand to new areas in Central India. This week’s killings have almost wiped out the Andhra-Odisha Border Committee (AOBC), the only militarily active wing of Maoists in the country.
The MHA’s key decision, which has enabled the police forces to gain an upper hand over the Maoists is to allow the Greyhounds, the specially trained anti-Maoist commandos functioning in AP and Telangana, to enter the extremist affected areas in Odisha and Chhattisgarh and lead combing operations. Thanks to this, the writ of the Greyhounds now runs in both these neighbouring states.
The free hand has also allowed the commandos of AP Greyhounds to avenge the killing of 38 policemen in an ambush by the Maoists on 28 June 2008, exactly in the same spot near Balimela reservoir in Malkangiri district. The morale of Odisha and Chhattisgarh police has been on the downswing after a series of attacks by Maoists in the past two years.
Since 2005-06, the Centre used to rush in a large number of CRPF and other paramilitary forces to the Maoist-affected areas in Chhattisgarh and Odisha, but invariably the forces suffered substantial losses due to their lack of knowledge about the terrain and understanding of Maoist tactics. The local police in Chhattisgarh and Odisha could not rise to the challenge.
The MHA changed its tactics in Chhattisgarh and Odisha after the National Democratic Alliance came to power at the Centre in 2014, whereby it was decided that the Greyhounds of AP and Telangana would lead the anti-Maoist operations in all extremist affected areas that are mostly hilly and forested, a top official in the AP police told The Sunday Guardian on Thursday.
In the normal course, whenever a police party from a neighbouring state wants to conduct any searches or raids, it is mandatory to obtain permission from the local police chief. But after noticing the strategic weaknesses of Odisha and Chhattisgarh police, the MHA gave permission to the AP Greyhounds to enter these states whenever required, without any prior permission, the official explained.
Even the AP Director General of Police, N. Sambasiva Rao told the media on Wednesday that the Greyhounds of the state have led the combining operations in Odisha for the past few weeks and an intense groundwork has paid off, culminating in Monday’s encounter. Though AP has been divided into Andhra and Telangana, the Greyhounds are a single force till date.
The Greyhounds divide into small units and take up search and combing operations in the jungles of Odisha and Chhattisgarh. Though the local police are included in the operations, their role is minimal as route guides or language interpreters. The presence of the Greyhounds in Odisha and Chhattisgarh borders is so intense that they get tip-offs from the local police informers, sources told this newspaper.
The Greyhounds use helicopters and jeeps to reach the interiors of these states and sometimes the local police do not even have information about their operations. This was evident when Malkangiri SP, Mitrabhanu Mahapatra had to ask for the identity of several plainclothesmen policemen from Greyhounds who were present at the time of the handing over of the bodies of the slain Maoists to their kith and kin on Wednesday.
Monday’s encounter has left the Maoists with deeper bruises as AOBC secretary Akkiraju Haragopal’s son, Pridhvi alias Munna, was among the killed. Munna went to the forests five years ago to see his father, who has been underground for the past 10 years and ended up joining the Maoists as an area committee member. Munna’s maternal uncle Kalyan Rao is a popular Telugu novelist.
Besides Munna, AOBC state committee members Venkata Ramana, alias Prasad alias Ganesh and Chamala Kistaiah alias Daya, district committee member PKM Prabhakar alias Gangadhar, regional committee members Bharati alias Latha, Madhu alias Daveed, Keshava Rao alias Barusu, senior member Mamata alias Kundana are some of the top Maoist leaders killed in the encounter.
The police has kept the bodies of 28 killed Maoists in containers at the Malkangiri police headquarters after conducting post-mortem by Tuesday. However, the kith and kin of only nine of the deceased have identified the bodies and taken them home for funerals. “The remaining bodies will be preserved for a few more days so that their relatives can take them,” Mitrabhanu Mahapatra told this newspaper on phone.
The encounter also resulted in the death of a Greyhounds commando, Abubakar, who died after falling in a 100 ft deep water body while running away from the Maoists who opened fire at him. In all, 50 top Maoists, including Haragopal, are believed to be present at a camp when the Greyhounds carried out a predawn swoop on them. But he managed to escape from the encounter spot.
Haragopal is a key functionary in the Maoist leadership in the country and a close associate of Maoists’ Central Committee secretary Muppalla Lakshman Rao alias Ganapathi. Haragopal was the Maoists’ representative at the peace talks they held with the Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy government in AP in 2004. Haragopal carries a reward of Rs 50 lakh on his head.
Sources in Greyhounds units belonging to Telangana told this newspaper that their combing operations are aimed at two purposes: one to assist neighbouring Odisha and Chhattisgarh police in tackling the Maoists and second to prevent the extremists from creating trouble in Telangana and AP, thereby gaining a foothold here. Presently, the two Telugu states are used by Maoists as shelter zones, he said.