BHUBANESWAR: It was a year of conflicts for Odisha. Clashes over industries raged, labourers revolted, Maoists trained guns on politicians and people alike while police were in hot pursuit of Reds. The year 2011 was scripted in blood. Police started the year on a gory note. In the first ten days, the SOG __ anti-Naxal outfit of the State Police __ drew the first blood by gunning down at least 14 suspected Maoists. On January 2, the police engaged in an encounter with the rebels in Jajpur-Keonjhar border and mowed down five. Seven days later, the act was replayed in Basangmali in Rayagada where nine Maoists were eliminated. After being hunted down in 2010, it was an onslaught the CPI (Maoist) was unable to take. The encounters followed by more neutralisation. Keonjhar Police arrested five women cadres, in a first while more operatives were arrested across Sundargarh, Keonjhar and Sambalpur. Along Odisha-Jharkhand border, a joint team of states’ police gunned down three more. On the backfoot, the Naxals were back with vengeance. The CPI (Maoist) stunned the whole State on February 16 when it abducted the then Malkangiri Collector R Vineel Krishna who was visiting a back of beyond region to attend a Government welfare programme. For the next seven days, the State Administration slipped into a comatose state never seen before. All that transpired during the period was negotiations with the Maoists through interlocutors. Even senior IAS officers shared the negotiation table with Naxal sympathisers. Deals were struck and on February 22, Krishna was released along with a junior engineer who had been kidnapped too. While the cat-and-mouse game between security forces and Maoists continued, Crime Branch had a major success in June when it laid its hands on CPI (Maoist) leader Azad. In fact, Azad had left the Odisha Police in a tricky situation by surrendering before Andhra Pradesh DGP. After he was quizzed and let go, Odisha Police picked him in connection with the Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati murder. In September, the wheel chair-bound Umerkote MLA Jagabandhu Majhi was killed in cold blood during a land patta distribution function in Nabarangpur. While Maoist hand was suspected in the murder, the investigation was handed over to Crime Branch. The byelection that followed decelerated the probe process and till date, no one has been arrested even as a new MLA has been elected to the Assembly. The year also saw bloodshed over industries. On March 3, a group of labourers caught hold of the DGM of Powmex, Radhashyam Ray, at Titilagarh and burnt him alive. However, it was Korean steel behemoth Posco which hogged the headlines all through the year - for clashes, agitations, violence and more. While the ` 51,000-crore project continued to be shrouded in controversy over expiry of its MoU, the anti-Posco movement gained momentum at Ground Zero with protestors adopting innovative way of agitation by roping in children. Things continued to be on the boil and after September, a spate of clashes followed with attempts being made to expedite the project. On November 25, police arrested leader of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) Abhay Sahu. A good 20 days later, the ambitious steel project, billed as India’s single largest FDI, claimed a life after clashes between anti-industry protesters and workers of a private firm engaged to lay a coastal road. As the political temperature rose over the incident, spotlight was on Bapi Sarkel, the contractor in question. Sarkel was arrested from Chhattisgarh while a former MLA Narayan Reddy was held from near Kujang a few days later for the clash that had led to the death of a worker. Earlier in February, the State found its own ‘treasure hunt’ story. During a renovation work at Emar Mutt, located just across the Sri Jagannath Temple, Puri, silver ingots worth at least ` 90 crore were discovered. While at first, it appeared like lost treasure, police investigation found that the wealth had been accidentally found during a renovation work and part of it being siphoned off. A spree of arrests, including that of mutt head Ramanuj Das, followed. The year saw tragic road accidents, boat capsizes and deaths caused by spurious liquor in Dhankanal and Mayurbhanj. The State was at the mercy of the elements. In August alone, lightning struck 32 persons dead.
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