Struggle for regional dominance: Here's why Maoists attacked BSF personnel in Odisha

The Maoist ambush in Malkangiri district of Odisha on Wednesday morning killing four persons, including three BSF personnel, and injuring another six BSF men, including an assistant commandant, proves two things. First, contrary to the impression sought to be created by the state police, Maoists still retain their fire power and ability to mount audacious attacks on security personnel in the area. And two, they will stake everything to stop work on the Gurupriya bridge, which would connect what is known as the ‘cut off’ area with the mainland. [caption id=“attachment_2409208” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] The audacity and precision of Wednesday’s attack clearly stunned the BSF personnel returning to their base camp at Chitrakonda after a combing operation in the Raleguda forests. The vehicle in which they were travelling stumbled on a landmine planted near Palangarai village, about four km from Janbai ghat, which went off, killing three jawans and a civilian on the spot. Before the BSF men could realise what happened, they were reportedly fired upon by the Maoists waiting in ambush. The idea clearly was to prove that BSF, which has been roped in to provide security for the construction of the bridge on Gurupriya river, was helpless in the area the Red Rebels consider their very own. Work on the long-delayed bridge that would connect the 151 villages in seven panchyats of the ‘cut off area’ commenced in April this year after a long hiatus caused by security issues. The bridge would be a lifeline for the nearly 30,000 people, most of them tribals, living in the area surrounded by water on all sides since 1964 after the Balimela reservoir was constructed for a hydropower project. The importance of the bridge for these tribals living in this back of beyond area can hardly be overstated. Their only means of communication with the outside world now are some old and tattered wooden boats and a motor launch run by the state government that frequently malfunctions. The foundation stone for this all-important bridge was laid way back in 1982 by the then Chief Minister JB Patnaik. Initially assigned to the Odisha Bridge Construction Corporation (OBCC), work on the 910 meter-long bridge was later taken up by Gammon India Limited (GIL). But shortly after starting work, GIL quit the project following repeated attacks on its men and machinery by the Maoists. In the years that followed, tenders were floated for the project several times; but there were no takers till Kolkata-based Royal Infra Construction Ltd agreed to take the risk after it was assured of BSF protection. The central security force has set up five camps between Janbai ghat and Chitrakonda. But Wednesday’s ambush proved, if any proof was needed at all, that they would always be vulnerable to ambush by the Red Rebels. It remains to be seen if Royal Construction would have the spunk to carry on with the construction of the bridge after Wednesday’s attack on the force that was supposed to provide its men on the ground security from the Maoists. It is easy to see why the Maoists do not want the bridge to come up. Bordering Andhra Pradesh on the other side, the thickly forested area provides them just the kind of safe haven they need to keep their violent activities going in south Odisha. While the area provides them easy access from the Andhra side, it denies security forces access from the other side. It is here that they held former Malkangiri collector R Vineel Krishna captive for nine days in 2011 before releasing him as part of a deal with the state government. The Maoists know that security personnel will have easy and unhindered access to their safe hideout once the bridge comes up. Once that happens, they would lose the advantage of terrain that they enjoy in their fight against the security forces, which was in ample evidence when they ambushed a boat carrying commandos of the elite Greyhound force raised by Andhra Pradesh on a combing mission and killed all 38 on board on 29 June, 2008. Shortly thereafter, they blasted off an anti-landmine vehicle carrying personnel of Odisha’s own anti-Maoist outfit Special Operations Group (SOG), killing all 17 on board. It is true that Maoists are losing ground in their other strongholds in the state. But as Wednesday’s incident proves, the government can take things easy only at its own peril in the cut off area, which is among the deadliest places in the country for the security forces engaged in anti-Maoist operations, perhaps second only to the Abujmad forests in Bastar area in neighbouring Chhattisgarh.