Bargarhs tryst with Maoists

SAMBALPUR: While the arrest of Maoist ideologue and top gun Girish from the district has shocked many, Bargarh’s tryst with Maoists dates back to November 2007. It was in September 2007 that the lid over the proposed attack on Bargarh district armoury was blown off with the arrest of a top Maoist leader Misir Besra by Jharkhand Police. Though the revelation had foiled the proposed attempt, the Maoists still nurtured the idea as indicated from a hand-sketch of the armoury recovered from Girish.  The Maoists were ready to enact a Jehanabad in Bargarh district and the plan was apparently dropped after Besra was nabbed. Besra, a member of the Central Military Commission (CMC) of the banned outfit, had spilled the beans which was communicated to Bargarh Police on September 20, 2007.Aptly named ‘Operation Bargarh’ by the military intelligence wing of the banned outfit, the entire raid was meticulously planned with a three-member team of the wing conducting a recce of the armoury and its location. The assault would have helped the Maoists to boost their morale besides strengthening their base here. The team after scouting the area was aware of the vulnerability of the district armoury stocked with 300 to 500 weapons. The wing headed by Ashutosh had even visited Bargarh in July 2007 for a SWOT (strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats) analysis of the security arrangement of the armoury even though they had begun their ground work for the assault in May itself.It was said that the Maoists had found sympathisers and had taken shelter on the outskirts of the town. They had even been allocated ` 30 lakh for the raid. While the team members camped at Bargarh, Ashutosh coordinated planning and movement from Deogarh, a stronghold of Maoists. The outfit had carried out a similar raid in Koraput town in 2004 and decamped with 524 weapons with support from people’s militia (Maoist Sympathisers). However, after Besra’s arrest, the then Bargarh SP Sanjib Panda not only scaled down the armoury but also fortified the town with strategic lighting and cleaning operation.And since then the arrest of another hardcore Maoist Shatrughan Biswal alias Mangu, a member of Odisha State Organising Committee of the banned outfit from Bargarh in March 2011, speaks volumes about the presence of Maoists in the district. Although members of the outlawed organisation from Chhattisgarh have been venturing into bordering areas of the district, Girish had been specially deputed to strengthen ties with their counterparts so that Bargarh could be ‘liberated’.