India: Shrinking Safe Haven In Odisha – Analysis

By Deepak Kumar Nayak

On May 26, 2024, a 25-year-old tribal man, Metla Rohit, was allegedly abducted and killed by cadres of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) in Baripanga village under Kotgarh Police Station limits in Kandhamal District. The Maoists suspected that the deceased was a ‘police informer’ and mentioned that in the pamphlets they left near his dead body, which was found near an anganwadi centre in the village. The involvement of cadres from the CPI-Maoist ‘Bansadhara-Ghumusar-Nagabali (BGN) division’ is suspected in the killing. 

On March 8, 2024, a couple, identified as Dahira Kanhar (husband) and Batasi Kanhar (wife), were killed by CPI-Maoist cadres in the Bidapadar village of Salaguda Panchayat (village level local-self-government institution) under Gochhapada Police Station limits in Kandhamal District. The Police disclosed that cadres of the ‘Kalahandi-Kandhamal-Boudh-Nayagarh (KKBN) division’ of the CPI-Maoist dragged Dahira and his wife Batasi out of their home, accusing them of being ‘police informers’, and took them to a nearby forest, where the couple were assaulted. Their bodies were later recovered from the forest area.

According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), at least three civilians have been killed in the Kandhamal District in the current year, thus far (data till June 2, 2024). During the corresponding period of 2023, one civilian was killed in the district. No further killing was registered in the remaining period of 2023. A maximum of six fatalities have been recorded on three occasions: in 2008, 2010, and 2016. Since March 6, 2000, when SATP started compiling data on LWE violence in the country, a total of 40 civilians’ fatalities have been recorded in Kandhamal, which is more than the combined fatalities of 31 in the SF personnel and LWE categories (seven Security Force, SF personnel, 24 Maoists).

The district has, however, witnessed significant SF consolidation. There have been no SF fatalities in 2024, or in the preceding five years. The last fatality recorded in this category was on June 4, 2017, when a trooper of the Special Operations Group (SOG) was killed and another six were injured in a CPI-Maoist ambush near Khamankhol under Baliguda Police Station limits in Kandhamal District. A maximum of three SF fatalities have been recorded on two occasions in 2011 and 2012. Since March 6, 2000, a total of seven SF fatalities have been recorded in the district. 

SFs have killed two Maoists since the beginning of the year (data till June 2, 2024). During the corresponding period of 2023, no Maoist fatality was recorded, nor were there any such fatalities in the remaining period of 2023. However, three Maoists were killed in 2022. A maximum of eight Maoist fatalities were recorded in 2020. Since March 6, 2000, a total of 24 Maoist fatalities have been recorded in the district. 

In the fight between SFs and Maoists, the overall kill ratio (1:3.42) has remained emphatically in favour of SFs (seven SF personnel, 24 Maoists killed) since March 6, 2000. 

Kandhamal district, which has recorded at least five Maoist-linked fatalities (three civilians and two Maoists), in the current year, accounts for 62.5 per cent of the total of eight fatalities, (three civilians and five Maoists) recorded in the State. Since March 6, 2000, the district accounted for 71 fatalities (40 civilians, seven SF personnel, and 24 Maoists), around 7.5 per cent of the total of 946 fatalities, (378 civilians, 227 SF personnel, 334 Maoists, and seven unspecified) recorded in Odisha.

No arrests have been made in the district in the current year, so far. At least one Maoist was arrested in 2023. A total of 52 Maoists has been arrested in the district since March 6, 2000. Mounting SF pressure has led to the surrender of one Maoist in the current year, in addition to two in 2023. 13 Maoists have surrendered since March 6, 2000. 

Maintaining a constant watch to thwart Maoist revival efforts in the district, Special Operation Groups (SOG) and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel recovered and defused a pressure bomb/ Improvised Explosive Device (IED) reportedly planted by CPI-Maoist cadres during combing operations in the Laseri Reserve Forest in Kotagarh near Badipanga village in Kandhamal District, on May 28, 2024. At least three incidents of recovery of arms have been recorded in the district in the current year, thus far (data till June 2, 2024). A total of 59 such recoveries have been chronicled in the district since March 6, 2000. 

Following the successive twin encounters of October 24 and 27, 2016, in Malkangiri District, which served as a safe haven, the Maoists are in constant search for another sanctuary. Kandhamal, which falls under the troubled ‘KKBN Division’, is one of the 30 Districts of Odisha, and is bounded by the Boudh District to the north, Koraput to the south, Nayagarh and Ganjam in the east, and Kalahandi in the West. The district occupies an area of 8,021 square kilometres, of which 5,709.83 square kilometres, about 71.18 per cent of its total geographical area, is under forest cover. Physiographically, the entire district lies in a hilly zone, interspersed with inaccessible terrain and narrow valley tracts. The district’s geographical proximity to contiguous Maoist-affected areas of the neighbouring districts of the State made Kandhamal a preferred guerrilla safe haven. 

According to a February 8, 2024, report, Kandhamal, along with neighbouring Kalahandi and Boudh districts, have emerged as the new flash points of Maoist activity. These three districts function as a corridor for cadres active in neighbouring Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. Inspector General of Police (IGP), Southern Range, J.N. Pankaj thus emphasized the need for a heightened focus on Kandhamal and Boudh districts, which serve as critical links between Maoist strongholds in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. IGP Pankaj disclosed, “Efforts are underway to deploy drones for surveillance, enhancing the authorities’ ability to track Maoist movements and maintain security in the region."

According to the same report, in spite of security operations targeting Maoist activity in Kandhamal and Boudh districts, the Maoists of the ‘KKBN division’ were once again asserting their presence, putting up posters at Kataribhata, Kamberikia Chowk, under the Sudra Panchayat of Baliguda in Kandhamal District. Through the posters, the Maoists demanded an end to the arrest of innocent locals in the name of Maoists. Rebutting Police claims that their cadres had surrendered, the Maoists stated in the posters that their people had been arrested. The ultras also demanded a halt to combing operations in the area. 

The report noted, further, that the Maoists exploited the rugged terrain of the district to maintain their presence, with the ‘KKBN’ and ‘Bansadhara-Ghumusar-Nagabali (BGN) divisions’ active in the forest areas. Additionally, most-wanted Maoist ‘commander’ Nikhil reportedly leads these outfits, which recruit youths and coerce tribal villagers to support their cause. 

According to a March 5, 2024, report, to counter the Maoists' revival efforts, the Border Security Force (BSF) has set up a Company Operating Base (COB) in Badapaju, a forested area around 45 kilometres from Phulbani, to check the movement of Maoists in the Kalahandi-Kandhamal-Boudh axis. Speaking of the anticipated threat, BSF Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Dhirendra Kumar disclosed that the BSF has also planned to set up a COB in a remote part of neighbouring Boudh district in the near future, and the two new COBs would play a significant role in maintaining security in the area. Stating that Maoist activities have significantly reduced in Koraput and the cut-off Swabhiman Anchal area of Malkangiri in the past few years, he noted,

Our challenge now is to check the movement of the Naxals in Kalahandi-Kandhamal-Boudh axis. About two battalions of force have been deployed in the region and to strengthen our presence further, a new COB was set up at Badapaju on February 28. Badapaju area has long been deprived of developmental works and basic facilities are not available to the tribals staying in the region. As it is a remote location, there was a threat of Naxal activities in the region. 

Significant SF consolidation has been seen on the ground in Kandhamal, one of the few remaining Maoist hideouts in the 'KKBN Division'. The quest for a safe haven keeps the rebel threat alive. With SF consolidation and a push to crate operational bases in the remaining rebel sanctuaries, opportunities for a determined push to take on developmental and administrative activities will open out, creating an environment within which the Maoists will have little influence or appeal.

• Deepak Kumar Nayak
  Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management