Odisha Panchayat Polls: Police & IRB Jawans Stage Flag-March In Koraput’s Kotia

Bhubaneswar: In order to prevent interference of Andhra Pradesh officials in the panchayat elections, the police and jawans of Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) staged a flag-march in villages under Kotia panchayat in Koraput district on Friday.

According to sources, 4 platoons of police force and IRB jawans carried out the flag-march in 13 wards of the panchayat to instill confidence in the people to participate in the three-tier panchayat polls.

The flag-march was conducted following the reports that the officials from the neighbouring Andhra were attempting to dissuade the voters from exercising their franchise in the elections.

Besides, the administration wanted prevent the Maoists from creating disturbances in the election by threatening the people of the panchayat, the sources said.

Meanwhile, DGP Sunil Bansal along with senior police officers also visited the district and took stock of security arrangements, particularly in Kotia, with the officials of the local administration.

It may be noted that the Left wing extremists have intensified their efforts to disrupt the panchayat polls by triggering landmine explosions and pasting posters threatening the villagers.

In the last few days, a journalist was killed in IED explosion in Kalahandi district and a youth was killed in landmine blast and two JCB machines were set on fire in Kandhamal district. The Maoists are suspected to be involved in all these activities.