Bhubaneswar, July 18 (Inditop.com) Orissa police personnel deployed in anti-Maoist operations are upset with the state government for not meeting their long-pending demands for modern equipment to tackle the rebels and have threatened “non-cooperation”.
“The Maoists continue kill us at will almost in all parts of the state. Our men are being killed like sitting ducks,” Sunil Mohanty, general secretary of the All Orissa Police Association, told IANS.
“We have been demanding modern equipment for long and without it the Maoists continue to remain in an advantageous position, leading to many casualties among our men,” he added.
“We are fighting the Maoists in jungles and hilly terrain. We need choppers to chase them and for combing operations. Choppers are badly needed to hunt down the Maoists.
“The rebels often block all the approach roads by cutting trees before orchestrating an attack. So we need at least two choppers in Maoist-hit areas for combing operations, otherwise we will not get success in any of our endeavours. We also need helicopters for rescue operations after an attack,” S.N. Sharma, president police association, said.
He said announcing compensation for the families of policemen killed or those hurt in the attack by rebels “is not enough”. “Our men die in the fight with Naxalites,” he said, adding that the police should be allowed to adopt a “tit-for-tat approach” in its fight against the Maoists.
“The Maoists kill, but when we go on the offensive, human rights and other agencies rush in. And at the time, the government does not come to our aid,” Sharma said, adding that Orissa should learn from Andhra Pradesh on tackling the Maoist menace.
The state police association has called a meeting at the end of July to chalk out its next course of action.
“We have given a list of demands to the state government. We have been pressing for fulfilment of our demands since 2001. If this is not done so, then we will go for non-cooperation,” Mohanty said.
