ROURKELA: The new strategy of simultaneous action by Orissa and Jharkhand police is paying dividends, it seems. The Maoists are feeling the heat of the anti-insurgency drive in their stranglehold, deep inside the dense Saranda forest along the Orissa-Jharkhand border. Sources said in the past one decade, the Chhota Nagpur Zonal Committee (CNZC) of the outfit has turned the mystic Saranda in Jharkhand territory into Maoist hub. The ultras struck at will in the border areas of Sundargarh district and West Singhbhum in Jharkhand. But the scenario has seen a drastic shift in the past nine months as security forces armed with better intelligence inputs are carrying out co-coordinated action. Security forces led by the Rourkela police also shed their inhibitions about the mystery of the thick forest and explored several unknown forest routes much to the woes of the ultras. Their Jharkhand counterparts are chipping in with valuable contributions as the simultaneous ‘search and area domination operations’ look to take the cadres on the wrong foot. Rourkela SP Himanshu Lal admitted that due to concerted actions from both sides the local Maoist operatives are increasingly feeling the pressure. Under the circumstances, free movement of the guerillas has somewhat been restricted, he said, asserting the drive would continue. The loss of two area commanders, Md. Muslim and Sameer Xalxo, and two armed cadres in police encounters in February this year along with the arrest of another area commander Kandru Lohar on Wednesday created a field leadership vacuum. If sources are to be believed, Xavier Xalxo and Madhu Tarkod of Nuagaon in Jharkhand and Mani Munda and Gouda Munda of Jhirpani in Sundargarh’s Bonai sub-division are vying for the posts of area commanders for the two strategically important areas, Digha and Chandiposh. They said no room should be allowed now to the outfit’s CNZC which is still capable of inflicting damage.
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