Police to conduct aerial patrolling

MALKANGIRI: Security forces are on high alert apprehending violence during the People’s Liberation Guerilla Army (PLGA) week beginning Friday. BSF DIG SK Barua reportedly held a marathon in camera meetings with the BSF officials here on Wednesday to hammer out a strategy to deal with any subversive activity by the Maoists. The PLGA week coincides with the 48-hour bandh call by the Maoists protesting the killing of Kishenji. Reports said a helicopter will be engaged for aerial patrolling to help security forces on ground. Special Operation Group commandos, personnel of Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Odisha State Armed Police (OSAP) and Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) are patrolling the Maoist-infested Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada and Nabarangpur districts.Additional police and CRPF personnel have been deployed in and around sensitive installations, an official said.Police are keeping a close vigil on railway stations, bus stands, hotels and other vital installations in Rayagada and Koraput.  “The ultras are planning a tactical counter offensive campaign (TCOC) against security forces,” a senior IPS officer said. TCOC essentially means that the guerillas would go on the rampage in one area and conduct meetings at another place, he added.Sources said Maoist activities are on the rise in Podia, Kalimela, Mathili and Motu areas with the rebels crossing the Sabari river to set up camps in the dense forests.Posters Triggers Panic in KandhamalBerhampur: Panic gripped Raikia block in Kandhamal district following the Maoist call for observance of PLGA week from December 2.Though rebels frequent the villages including Karada, Ranaba and Indragada, this is for the first time that posters exhorting the villagers to participate in the PLGA week have been found at several places in the block. The posters have warned them against joining the police and army and threatened to take up such cases in the praja court.  With PLGA week coinciding with the two-day bandh call from December 4, protesting the killing of Kishenji, the villagers apprehend trouble.