BSF Rules Out Maoist Threat To Elections In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: The Border Security Force (BSF) has ruled out any threat from the Maoists and assured of incident-free general elections in sensitive areas of Odisha.

Speaking to media persons on Monday, BSF DIG Dhirendra Kumar said the security force was geared up to ensure smooth elections, particularly in the so-far Maoist dominated areas including Swabhiman Anchal in Malkangiri district. As in 2019 general elections and 2022 panchayat polls, the BSF would ensure incident-free elections, he added.

The BSF under the umbrella of the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) is deployed to maintain law and order  and prevent untoward incident during the elections.

Kumar said they had drawn up the strategy to counter any kind of disturbances by the Left wing extremists. Due to pro-active actions and consistent operations by the security forces, the Maoists were on backfoot and would not dare commit any kind of interruptions in the democratic process, he added.

In October 2010, BSF was deployed in Malkangiri, Koraput, and Nabarangpur and all these areas are now naxal-free to a larger extent.

Stating that Koraput was completely free from Maoists, Kumar said the Swabhiman Anchal, which was once hotbed of the banned outfit, would also see complete elimination of the extremists.

“With most of the Maoist leaders and cadres migrating to Andhra Pradesh or Chhattisgarh, their presence was restricted to one or two districts in Odisha. Within a year or two, the state will be totally free of the extremists,” he said.