Odisha, Andhra to Launch Joint Operation Against Maoists

Bhubaneswar: In the wake of the brutal murder of two local leaders of Andhra Pradesh by Maoists in the bordering areas of Odisha, the Odisha Police and its Andhra Pradesh counterpart on Friday decided to launch a joint operation against the left wing extremists.

A decision to this effect was taken at the inter-state coordination meeting between the Directors General of Police (DGPs) of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh on the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) that was held here on Saturday.

Informing the media at a joint press briefing after the meeting, Odisha DGP, R. P. Sharma and his Andhra Pradesh counterpart R. P. Thakur, said that the meeting between the two states on anti-Maoist operation has been successful.

“We agreed to share information on the movement and modus operandi of the Red Rebels as both the states have successfully carried out the operation against them in the recent past due to the sharing of information. In the coming days, there will be a meeting at the grassroots level with the police officers of both the states posted along the border areas. With proper coordination between the two states, it would be easier to track down the Maoists,” they pointed out.

A wide range of issues, including anti-LWE operations in the inter-state border, intelligence collection and sharing, tactical deployment of security forces along the inter-state border and other such issues were discussed in the meeting.

Both sides discussed the emerging LWE scenario at the inter-state border following the recent developments in the bordering areas.

The meeting laid emphasis on enhancing inter-state coordination and cooperation, particularly conducting joint operations in the core areas like the cut-off area to effectively combat and contain the LWE menace. It also deliberated on the development/infrastructure initiatives to be undertaken in mutual consultation.

Senior police officers of Andhra Pradesh present at the meeting were Additional DGP, Venkateswar Rao; Additional DGP  (OPS) Nalini Pravat; IGP (Intelligence) B. Sreenivasulu; DIG (Greyhound) Vineet Brijlal and  DIG (Vizag) V. R. Srikanth, while from Odisha, Additional DGP (Intelligence) Sunil Roy; Additional DGP (Operation) R. P. Koche;  IGP (Intelligence) R. K. Sharma; Ghanashyam IGP (SIW) Upadhayay; DIG (South Western Range, Koraput) Asish Singh and Commandant (SOG) Anirudha Singh.

A group of about 60 Maoists had intercepted the two cars of the sitting TDP MLA Kidari Sarveswara Rao and former TDP MLA Siveri Soma at Livitiput in the morning on September 23 and shot them at point-blank range after an argument.