Taking advantage of the situation in the CPI-Maoists, which has been weakened after receiving a major blow at Andhra Odisha Border (AOB) recently, the Andhra Pradesh government is planning to strengthen the anti-Maoist force, Greyhounds, to check Left Wing Extremism (LWE) in the State.
The government is planning to establish Greyhounds Training Centre, with about Rs. 1,000 crore at Visakhapatnam, and urged the Centre to give necessary support to check LWE.
The police are taking steps to prevent regrouping of Naxalites, fresh recruitments, and take control of Maoist stronghold areas, to further weaken the banned organisation. Particularly, they are targeting tribal youth, who are joining in LWE and providing shelter for dalams in Agency areas.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has recently announced the constitution of a committee to study the proposal submitted by Andhra Pradesh for setting up the anti-naxal force, as per Section 9 of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who was in the State recently, assured to look into the matter.
“Greyhounds personnel are playing a key role in tackling Maoists in Telangana, and a similar force is needed for Andhra Pradesh,” Mr. Singh opined.
Hide-and-seek game
Information and Broadcasting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu, who attended the foundation stone-laying programme for constructing a new campus for National Disaster Response Force 10th Battalion, said that Maoists are playing hide-and-seek game in the State. After indulging in violence in one State, they are escaping to the other State. Greyhounds Training Centre is essential to control LWE operations in AP, he said.
Director-General of Police (DGP) N. Sambasiva Rao said that after the Ramaguda encounter, in which 30 Maoists were killed in October last year on AOB, the number of Under Ground (UG) cadre in CPI-Maoist has fallen to 105 in AP.
Coffee plantations
“To generate employment in tribal villages, coffee plantations have been taken up in about 4,500 acres in Visakhapatnam forests. Besides, skill development, capacity building programmes and infrastructure development activities are being taken up. We are taking steps to wean youth away from Naxalism,” said Mr. Rao at a press conference recently.
