Odishatv Bureau

Kandhamal: After a few days of lull, Maoist posters have once again surfaced in some panchayats of the district warning people belonging to the Gond community to stop 'aiding' security forces deployed on counter-insurgency operations.

The fresh warning posters have been spotted at Jhiripani and Bhandarangi panchayats under the Belaghara police limits.

According to sources, the CPI (Mao) BGN Divisional Committee posters were found at these locations stating that some people belonging to the tribal Gond community were joining hands with security forces by working as informers.

In the posters, the rebels go on to threaten the community members with death for aiding the security forces.

To drive home their point, the rebels in the posters have pointed out the murders of Bhabani Shankar Patra, who they identified as the son of a village Sarpanch and Hemanta Patra, who belonged to nearby Guchiguda village for their alleged police links.

Citing the two revenge killings, the Maoists have warned youngsters from Gond community with a similar fate if the latter sided with the police.

The propaganda poster also go on to add how young Gond people are turning into police informers for the lure of a little money and food, and thus ending up losing their precious life at the hands of the rebels.

They have also mentioned the recent shootout in the Sirki forest with security forces where five of their cadre had been killed. They have claimed that both the parties were equally responsible for the shootout and loss of life.

Though the posters have caused panic among locals, but it is not the first time Mao posters surfaced in the tribal pockets of Kandhamal, Koraput and Malkangiri districts.

Analysts believe such public posture of the rebel group is a clear sign of their nervousness as scores have been killed in police encounters recently while the group ranks have been rattled by a spate of desertion and surrender before security forces.

scrollToTop