The Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres in the cut-off area of Andhra Odisha Border (AOB) are facing a leadership crisis, as the link between the cadre base and the main leadership has reportedly been severed, reports The Hindu on June 13. As per the report, post-October 2016 Ramaguda encounter, in which over 30 Maoists, including senior leaders, were killed by the anti-Naxal [Left Wing Extremism, LWE] force of the Andhra Pradesh Greyhounds, the State Police have been on the offensive. This was well supported by the Odisha Government, which not only increased the footprints of its Special Operations Group (SOG) and District Voluntary Force (DVF) in the cut-off area of AOB but has also increased the presence of Border Security Force (BSF) by setting up new camps in the Maoist heartland. This new offensive has pushed the Maoists to a small pocket of about 1,500 square kilometers in the cut-off region, which falls in the east of the Balimela river and squeezed between Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.
According to Superintendent of Police (SP), Visakhapatnam, Attada Babujee, with the coming up of the armed outposts and BSF camps and increased surveillance and combing, the Maoists have been pushed back to the north of the cut-off region. Fearing exposure, the main leaders such as Akkiraju Haragopal alias Ramakrishna alias RK, CC member Gajarla Ravi alias Uday, secretary AOBSZC (Andhra Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee) and Chalapathi, CC member, have reportedly moved to the Gumma region of Odisha. The main leadership is reportedly cut off from the cadres and mid-rung leaders such as Sudheer and Krishna.