The Border Security Force (BSF) has established its company operating base (COB) at Jantri in Swabhiman area in Odisha’s Malkangiri district, marking the complete domination of security forces in the former bastion of the CPI (Maoist) rebels.
The setting up of the base at Jantri, which is at extreme end of Swabhiman Anchal and still not reachable by road in monsoon season, is said to be an important event in the history of anti-Maoist operation in Odisha and neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.
Swabhiman Anchal, erstwhile Cut-Off area, had slipped into the hands of Maoist rebels due to its extreme remoteness, which was inflicted upon people by Balimela Dam project. The construction work of Balimela project was started in the then Koraput district in 1962-63 and competed in 1977.
