Nuapada: Maoists have been spreading their tentacles in Sunabeda Tiger Reserve areas of Nuapada district as the state and the Central police have failed to trace camps of red rebels in the jungles, it is alleged.
According to sources, the Sunabeda Tiger Reserve forest has become a safe haven for the ultras to carry out their activities.
Panic has gripped the villagers in nearby areas of the tiger reserve in the wake of the alleged entry of the reds into the jungle.
The rebels are playing “hide and seek” with the police, allege the villagers. Although the police have set up camps at various places in the area and continued their operations against the Maoists, they have failed to locate rebel camps within the jungles.
The tiger reserve and the nearby villages have witnessed a substantial rise in Naxalite activities in the past two months.
In 2007-8, the Maoists have asserted their presence in Nuapada district by destroying a forest rest-shed, guard quarters and stockrooms in Sunabeda Forest Reserve. After the incident they killed as many as 20 people in the area branding them as “police informers”.
In order to checkmate the Maoists after the incident, the state police and the Central police together launched combing operations at various places near the tiger reserve including district headquarters office, Komana police station, Barakota, Nuapada block, Boden police station and Khaduapani. However, the combing operations yielded little result as the Naxalites are reported to have escaped to Chhattisgarh after sensing trouble.
Although the police regularly conducted combing operations to track the rebels, their numbers swelled continuously.
The Red menace resurfaced in Nuapada district in 2013, when the ultras killed Sikshya Sahayak Chaitana Majhi. The incident forced his family members to leave the village.
Seven years after the incident, Chaitan’s family members still shudder to think about the horrendous incident.
They can’t even muster courage to return to the village.
As per latest estimations, the number of Maoists in Nagalboad, Dhamarabandh and Patapani has multiplied in the past two months.
The rebels are regularly holding meetings in the area bordering Chhattisgarh and Nuapada, raising apprehensions among villagers that the Maoists may orchestrate something “massive” or “dangerous”.
It was observed that normalcy eludes the areas taken over by the ultras. The fear of Maoist attack has forced the villagers to desert their village.
The elite here suggest that the police take timely action before the Reds initiate anything drastic.