Is Andhra police the best to tackle Naxal menace?

For the first time in many years, the Andhra police did not suffer a single casualty at the hands of Maoists since the Police Commemoration Day (October 21) last year.

In 2008, the state lost as many as 38 policemen in extremist violence, with the attack on a team of Greyhounds, an elite anti-Naxal force, at Balimela bordering Orissa alone claiming 36 lives.

Even in the previous years, police casualties numbered anywhere between five and ten per annum, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) A K Khan said on Tuesday.

While Andhra had been successful in containing the menace to a large extent, others like Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Jharkhand are bearing the brunt with Left-wing extremists spreading their wings to these states in the last few years.

However, the Maoists are trying to make a comeback in Andhra Pradesh, prompting the police to take a fresh guard. "There has been some spurt in Maoist activities in the state. Some incidents like killing of a village sarpanch have been reported in the recent days and hence we have stepped up our vigil, particularly in the districts bordering Orissa and Chhattisgarh," he told a press conference in Hyderabad.

Maoists had remained dormant in Andhra Pradesh for a few months now after some of their top leaders were killed in gunbattles with the police. Top Naxal leader Muppalla Laxman Rao alias Ganapathi, too, admitted in a recent interview that their movement has suffered a serious setback in the southern state.

"It was due to several mistakes on our part that we suffered a serious setback in most of Andhra Pradesh by 2006. This setback is, however, temporary as we have an advantageous situation for reviving the movement in Andhra Pradesh," Ganapathi said in an interview to a news magazine.

The ADGP, however, sought to make light of Ganapathi's assertion, saying such remarks were intended to keep the confidence level in their own ranks. As per police estimate, there are about 460 extremists in the state.

Till last year there were about 387 Maoist cadres in the underground list while 87 more were added to it subsequently. Of the 474, 12 extremists, including seven of the Communist Party of India-Maoist and five of CPI (ML-Praja Pratighatana), surrendered, while two were killed in police encounters.

Overall, there has certainly been a drastic decline in Naxal activities in Andhra. The cadres have almost become inactive while many leaders have shifted base to states like Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa. They are, of course, trying to make a comeback but 'we should not lower our guard,' a top police official remarked.

Ten Central Reserve Police Force personnel were killed while fighting Chinese soldiers in Ladakh on October 21, 1959, and in their memory, the day is observed as Police Commemoration Day.