BHUBANESWAR / SAMBALPUR: The death of Koteswar Rao alias Kishenji in an encounter on Thursday, might well prove a headache for Odisha. Anticipating movement of Maoists from across the borders, the State police have already sounded an alert. Mayurbhanj, in particular, has been asked to stay watchful.A joint team of 207 Cobra Battalion, 184 CRPF battalion along with Bengal State Police killed the high-profile Maoist leader in Junglemahal. After receiving specific information that Kishenji and some of his associates were hiding in Kushboni jungle, the area was cordoned off. The operation which began this morning at Burisole jungle under Jamboni police limits was close to Kushboni near the Jharkhand border.Well-placed sources said, retaliatory action by the Maoists cannot be ruled out since the cadres will be on the run and may try to get across the border where they find a safe haven.“Ever since the operation started, we were anticipating movement but it has not started so far. Kishenji’s killing may trigger it,” a senior police officer said. The deployment of security forces would force them to flee to Mayurbhanj.Police sources said, Maoists may be on the backfoot having suffered a major setback and would target railway tracks and try to cause heavy casualties.The Central Paramilitary Forces have been alerted in Mayurbhanj where a battalion is in place. Attention will also be on Similipal which is used by the radicals.Expert in Naxal studies Rajat Kujur said, Kishenji’s death is a huge blow for the Maoist movement in India. “It’s a loss for both the leadership as well as cadres of CPI (Maoist) because he combined the characteristics of a military general and an ideologue of the banned outfit,” he added.The CPI (Maoist) is expected to hit back to avenge the death of Rao who controlled pockets of Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal.
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