Bhubaneswar: Orissa government on Tuesday
admitted lack of coordination between the state police and BSF
jawans in the battle against Maoists but the understanding
with CRPF personnel was upto satisfaction.
The issue relating to the much-needed coordination
among Orissa Police, BSF jawans and CRPF personnel was
discussed threadbare at a high-level meeting here chaired by
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here.
Stating that a proper coordination was essential
before launching any offensive against the Maoist ultras under
the unified command, the state government said that though it
had extended all out support to the BSF, a proper
understanding was yet to be established with them (BSF).
"We hope a proper coordination between Orissa Police
and BSF will be established soon," Chief Secretary B K Patnaik
told reporters after the meeting.
Though the coordination between CRPF and Orissa Police
was good, the same had not been possible with BSF, the chief
secretary pointed out.
While eight battalions (one battalion comprises 540
personnel) of CRPF personnel were deployed in different
Maoist-hit districts, five battalions of BSF jawans stationed
in only two southern districts of Malkangiri and Koraput.
BSF jawans were deployed to assist the state police in
two worst Maoist-hit districts of the state with the
expectation that they could properly handle the complex
situation in the two tribal-dominated region, a senior police
officer said.
BSF jawans have been camping at different places of
Malkangiri and Koraput for the past six months, he said.
Recent explosion of a landmine barely 100 meters from
a BSF camp and extensive postering by the red rebels in
Malkangiri district indicated that the ultras had mustered
courage to challenge the central para-military force.
PTI
