A well-planned attack by naxals

By Prafulla Das

BHUBANESWAR, AUG. 10. Five policemen were killed and 21 injured when naxalites attacked the Kalimela and Motu police stations in Malkangiri District on Thursday night. Two naxalites, suspected to be members of the People's War Group, were killed when police fired in retaliation.

The armed naxalites, who simultaneously attacked the two police stations at around 8.30 p.m., took away arms and ammunition. No Naxalite outfit claimed responsibility for the attack till Friday evening.

This is the third time naxals have attacked policemen in Orissa. In 1998, two policemen were killed in an attack in Malkangiri. In March this year too two policemen were killed in Gajapati district.

According to the State Home Secretary, Mr. T.K. Mishra, the extremists continued their attack till late in the night. The Naxalites had come in full strength.

At Kalimela police station SI Rajkishore Nayak, Sepoy H.P. Srestha and Havildar D.B. Chhetri were killed. Sepoy B.B. Mahanandia and Jamadar Marshal Khaka were killed at Motu police station, Mr. Mishra said.

The attack on Thursday was well organised. While about 150 naxalites attacked the Kalimela police station, about 80 attacked the station at Motu.

The naxalites blocked the Malkangiri-Kalimela Road and Malkangiri-Motu Road before launching the attack.

Malkangiri touches Andhra Pradesh on one side and Chattisgarh on the other. Help has been sought from both the States to nab the attackers.

The Chief Minister, Mr. Naveen Patnaik, held a high-level meeting at the State Secretariat this afternoon to review the situation. He instructed top police officials to take immediate measures to bring the situation under control.

Two senior police officials have been sent to make an on the spot assessment of the situation. The Chief Minister has also requested the Centre to provide extra police force.

Though the State Government has been talking about measures to contain the naxalite menace for long, it has even failed to fill up a large number of vacancies in Malkangiri and other districts where naxalites are growing in strength.

The Chief Minister announced an ex-gratia of Rs. 1.5 lakhs to the family of the deceased policemen. One person from each of the bereaved family would get a job in a Government department.

Rain hampered help

Our Khammam Staff Reporter writes:

After raiding the two police stations, the naxalites walked away with a huge haul of weapons including 32 SLRs, one LMG and 4,000 rounds of ammunition.

The police stations - both close to the inter-state border with Andhra Pradesh were attacked by squads formed into two separate action teams. The naxalites who struck at Motu took advantage of the Sabari river in spate.

About 50 members, mostly militants and tribals from the forest villages in the vicinity, took part in the raid. Though the policemen were taken by surprise by the sudden swoop, they made a valiant effort to repulse the attack.

The naxalites killed in the incident was identified as Suryam, a Dalam commander. He is reported to have used an AK-47.

The naxalites used directional mines, petrol bombs, sop bombs and grenades. The police received little help from outside as it was raining heavily.

The Chintoor police station in Khammam district, about 10 km away received the information about the attack around 11 p.m. A vain bid was made to rush special party but it failed to cross the Sabari river from a ferry point near Kunta village.

At Kalimela, more than 150 tribals joined the PWG squads in the attack on the police station.

There was little resistance from the police, who meekly surrendered to the naxalites. A two-inch mortar used for firing explosives was also carted away by the naxalites.

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