Odisha Director General of Police Abhay on Sunday said Left extremists have mostly shifted to other places as security forces established their dominance in Swabhiman Aanchal, which was once a stronghold of the outlawed CPI (Maoist).
Mr. Abhay, who had once visited the highly Maoist-affected Ghanbera in Swabham Aanchal, where the Border Security Force (BSF) had recently set up a Company Operating Base (COB), said, “The state police, BSF and local people are working. Trying to bring change in the field. The change is visible in the region.”
“There is a need to construct a bridge to facilitate smooth movement of forces to reach the tail end jantri of Swabhiman Kshetra. This will be the end of CPI (Maoist) presence.”
Malkangiri is one of the worst affected districts in India, recording 332 Maoist incidents in the last 12 years between 2008 and 2020. Most of the violence by the insurgents has taken place in the Swabhiman Kshetra.
Swabhiman Kshetra was earlier known as the cut-off zone because of its remoteness to the people affected by the Balimela Dam project.
The reservoir formed a water channel more than 60 kilometers long, enclosing 151 villages on three sides. For three years between 1975 and 1978, people locked in the water had no access to the mainland, which nearly erased their memories of being attached to the rest of the world.
Taking advantage of the backwardness and anger of the local people against the administration, the CPI (Maoist) almost turned the area into its fortress.
Swabhiman Aanchal in Malkangiri district got its first road connection to the rest of Odisha in 2018, when Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated the Gurupriya Bridge.