The New Red Corridor

On October 18, 2005, Suchit Das, police chief of Orissa, noted: "The Maoists are planning to open thecorridor from Nepal to Andhra Pradesh. For this, they are trying hard to takecontrol of the western districts of Orissa, like Sambalpur and Deogarh." 

There has been mounting evidence in the recent past to indicate that the Maoistsare attempting to open a new front to link up the neighbouring states ofJharkhand and Andhra Pradesh via Orissa. The larger strategic plan is to createan uninterrupted north-south corridor and Orissa’s central and western regionsare critical to the construction of such a passage.

The recent proscription of the Communist Party ofIndia-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) in Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh (on August 17,2005, and September 5, 2005) respectively, has consequently done little to stemthe rising subversion in Orissa’s border districts. For instance, on October17, approximately 20 cadres of the CPI-Maoist shot dead one Special Armed Policetrooper and injured four persons at Badrama in the Sambalpur district, close toSundargarh district on the Orissa-Jharkhand border.

Earlier, on September 29,Congress party legislator Nimain Sarkar had a miraculous escape, even as oneperson died, when the Maoists triggered a landmine, which destroyed a vehiclecarrying the legislator’s supporters near Pusuguda in the Malkangiri district.Malkangiri shares its border with Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh. HomeSecretary Santosh Kumar confirmed that the blast occurred when Sarkar and hissupporters were en route to Motu to meet family members of Subash Biswas,who had been shot dead by the Maoists on September 27 after they had branded hima police informer. With increased pressure in Andhra Pradesh, police sourcessay, many senior Maoist leaders have shifted base to areas in the borderingregions of Orissa and Chhattisgarh.

Of Orissa’s 30 districts, the CPI-Maoist is already activein eight: Gajapati, Rayagada, Koraput and Malkangiri in the southern region; andSundargarh, Sambalpur, Deogarh, and Keonjhar in northern Orissa. They havedeclared several areas along the Orissa-Andhra Pradesh border in the southeastof Orissa as a ‘liberated zone’ and carry out attacks particularly targetingpoliticians, police and landlords there. Since their proscription in AndhraPradesh, the Gajapati district of Orissa has witnessed a spurt in Maoistactivity. 

Senior police sources of Andhra Pradesh, who visited various areas ofOrissa on August 24, 2005, disclose that more than 200 Maoists have sneaked intoOrissa across the state border, particularly into Tekili and Manjusa in Gajapatidistrict. Entering Gajapati from the Bhamani, Kuttur, and Batili areas in AndhraPradesh, the Maoists spread out to the Onna, Sara, Gariaguda, Khandwa, Siali andHaripur villages and further move towards Barinji via the Gira hills, Ajaigarh,Kujanshi, Santoshpur, Marlanda, Kharsanda and Madhusudanpur. From Barinji, withthe help of some sympathizers, they join existing Maoist camps in the Rayagada,Koraput, Malkangiri and Nawarangpur districts. And across Rayagada, according tointelligence reports, Maoists enter the Phulbani district via theKhajuripada-Anugur-Parimal-Mohana-Adaba-Mandrababu route.

The Gajapati district thus serves as a point of dispersal,from where the Maoists move into Kandhamal region, Koraput and Malkangiri viathe Padmapur Forest in the Rayagada district. Maoists who have entered theGajapati district are reportedly trying to recruit the youth and have createdthree organisations, the Praja Bimukti Sainya (People’s LiberationArmy), People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army and Lok Sangram Manch(People’s Revolutionary Platform), for this purpose. The Maoists have alwaysused the Gajapati district as a shelter zone whenever a ban has imposed on themin Andhra Pradesh.

The Maoists primarily enter Orissa in groups of 12-14 andinvariably choose inaccessible localities as their bases. Since the late1990’s, when three or four squads (dalams as they are known in AndhraPradesh) settled in Orissa, they have maintained good rapport with the locals,and are well entrenched. They have consolidated their position by helping settlefamily or village level disputes. In the Gajapati district, they chose villageswhere the topography and social character were similar to familiar areas ofAndhra Pradesh. Thus, in the Gosani Block of Gajapati, the local language isTelugu, which is spoken in Andhra Pradesh. Maoists have a presence in theRegesingh, Parsmba, Naraharipur, Bindua and Parichha villages of Gajapati district.

Malkangiri district is gradually emerging as a Maoist base inOrissa, gaining the status of a Maoist ‘division’ spanning the Orissa-Andhraborder areas. The Maoists have infiltrated into the border regions ofChitrakonda, Gudawa, Doraguda, MV 79, Kalimela, Vegangawada and Motu and forcelocals to provide food and shelter. Incidentally, Malkangiri is directlyaccessible from the Maoist-affected Khammam, Visakhaptnam, and the East and WestGodavari districts of Andhra Pradesh. Data from Malkangiri indicates thatMalkangiri has witnessed at least nine significant incidents relating to Maoistactivity in year 2005 (till November 2), and since 1999 the Maoists have killedat least 20 police personnel in this district. An average of eight raids and 10days of combing operations are carried out in the Maoist-infested villages everymonth. While the police spends about Rupees 80 million a month incombating the Maoists in Malkangiri, Koraput and Rayagada districts (all of whomshare a border with Andhra Pradesh), the civil administration spends just Rupees500 million per year for development work in these districts.

Another crucial district for the Maoists in Orissa isRayagada where, despite heavy deployment of the Police and paramilitary Forces,Maoist-related incidents are registered on a regular basis. The state governmenthad made little effort to counter extremism in the area before the Gothalpadarland mines blast in 2002.

Police sources disclose that 1,000 state Armed Policepersonnel, 1,000 from the Indian Reserve Battalion, 1,000 Central Reserve PoliceForce personnel, and 200 men of both the Special Operations Group and SpecialIntelligence Wing are engaged solely in dealing with the Maoists in thesepockets.

There are presently seven leading Maoist squads and threefront organisations, with approximately 300 hardcore cadres and 2,000 supportersactive in Orissa. Within the Maoist fold, the Kalimela, Motu, Populur, Korkunda,Chitrakonda and Sangagampary squads in Malkangiri; the Bansadhara and Kuilabangsquads in Rayagada; and the Janjhabati and Chasimulia squads in Koraput, pose achallenge to the Administration.

In Orissa’s Northern region, the Maoists have formed the KrantikariKisan Committee (Revolutionary Farmer’s Committee) and Jungle SurakhyaCommittee (Forest Protection Committee) in villages adjacent to Jharkhand.Thus, in the Sundargarh district, they have formed these committees in borderingvillages like Bjharbeda, Kaliaposh, Tulasikani, Makaranda, Sanramloi, Badramloi,Jharbeda, Jareikel and similarly at Thetheitangar, Samda, Reda and Digha on theJharkhand side.

The CPI-Maoist is also consolidating its position in theSambalpur district in north Orissa. On July 7, a group of more than 30Maoists killed five people in the Tamparsingha, Banjaridikira and Larabiravillages in a series of attacks spread over five hours. Earlier, on May 28, theMaoists had shot dead three civilians and injured an equal number in Burdavillage. More recently, on October 16, a group of 40 Maoists, including somefemale cadres, attacked a police party at village Badarma, killing one policemanand looting four rifles, before escaping into the adjacent jungles. The state’s Home Secretary, Santosh Kumar,stated, "The Maoists are attackingthe Police with the aim of looting arms and ammunition… The looting of policeweapons is a clear signal that they are preparing for a long battle in theregion".

In Sambalpur, the Maoists are currently active in thevillages adjacent to the Khilasuni Reserve Forest area under Kisinda policestation – Redhakhol, Meghpal, Jujumura, Chhamunda, Burda, Kisinda, Kusamura,Podanai and Jarang. Maoists from Jharkhand come to Sambalpur to train and escapeback across the border in the event of combing operations by the Police. In caseof a shortage of arms and cadres for major operations, assistance is securedfrom Maoist units in neighbouring Jharkhand, although the outfit is currentlytrying to strengthen its base in Sambalpur and Deogarh in order to reduce itsdependency on the Jharkhand unit.

In the Deogarh district, the Maoists are active in Jadagolaand villages under Riamala Block. On October 13, the police unearthed a largequantity of Gelatine explosives and 21 improvised explosive devices during acombing operation in the adjoining Hiran forests, which is now reported to be aMaoist base. Similarly, the Maoists have intensified their movement in theKeonjhar district’s Badbil mining area, the Keonjhar and Dhenkanal borderarea, and the Kaliahat Police outpost area. They are also reportedly trying toenter the Kotgarh and Brahmani villages of Phulbani district in order toestablish a link between Rayagada and Sambalpur. In addition to consolidatingtheir position, the route would create a pathway between Andhra Pradesh andJharkhand. Recently, the outfit brought in some prominent leaders and changedthe secretaries of some of its ‘area committees’ in the tribal areas of itsAndhra-Orissa Border (AOB) ‘special zone’. According to reports, 22 cadreshad been brought to the AOB area from the Telangana region in Andhra Pradesh.

Rising Maoist activity in districts like Sambalpur andDeogarh is also a major concern from the economic point of view, since it ishere that a majority of the steel and iron ore mine projects are beingdeveloped. In June 2005, South Korea’s Posco signed a deal for a $12 billionsteel project in Orissa in the Sundargarh and Keonjhar districts, the largestsingle foreign direct investment made in India. Unsurprisingly, reports ofextortion from many projects have been received by the state intelligence units.

The state response, amidst all this rising Maoist activity,has remained mixed. The government is currently following a ‘two-prongedapproach’: socio-economic development to negate the Maoists’ support baseamong the poorer sections, and combing operations directly targeting theMaoists. Apart from the state police, at least 16 companies of the para-militaryCentral Reserve Police Force are deployed across the state to combat theMaoists. While 103 hardcore Maoists were arrested between December 2004 and June2005, a total of 46 cases were registered against the group this year (till June10, 2005) as against 24 cases registered in 2004. The police have alsoneutralised a Maoist camp in Malkangiri district and five camps in Sambalpurduring 2005, defused 22 landmines and seized 30 weapons.

But, the authorities seem ill equipped to tackle thesituation. For instance, the post of Deputy Inspector General of Police(South-western range) with jurisdiction over Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada,Nabarangpur, Kalahandi and Nuapada districts lay vacant between August 25 andOctober 22, hampering coordination between the Superintendents of Police ofthese districts. Malaria had killed one policeman and affected at least 20others among those deployed to fight the Maoists in the Sambalpur district,according to reports in August 2005. One trooper deployed in the area, who wassuffering from malaria, complained: "There is no basic healthcare in thevillages where we are posted. We are not even getting clean water. When we arefighting disease, how can we fight Maoists?"

Nihar Nayak is Research Associate, Institute for ConflictManagement. Courtesy, the South Asia Intelligence Review of the South AsiaTerrorism Portal.