ABSTRACT
The backwardness of Malkangiri and the constant alienation of the tribals from government serve the Maoists well. The locals have never seen any government working for them; and therefore, the Maoists are both their government and their police. A senior police officer says at least 30,000 tribals of the district openly support the Maoists; the rest do so tacitly. Passing through Doraguda village, one notices a huge poster put up by the Adivasi Mahila Viplava Sangham near a small memorial to a ‘martyred’ Maoist. ‘Most of the villagers are Maoist supporters. People see the Maoists regularly, so it is them they trust’, says a top police officer. Intelligence officials say that in 2009–10, the maximum Maoist recruitments took place in Malkangiri. Vineet Brijlal, Superintendent of Police, Visakhapatnam, who earlier served with the Greyhound special troops in Malkangiri, says there must be 300–400 armed cadres in this Maoist bastion.
