Odisha Police To Set Up 11 New Camps To Curb Maoist Menace: DGP

Bhubaneswar: At least 11 new police camps would be set up in Odisha to further strengthen the fight against the left-wing extremists (LWEs), Director General of Police Sunil Kumar Bansal said on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters after reviewing the ongoing anti-Maoist operations at a meeting in Bhubaneswar, the police chief said that the formation of the new camps would make the battle against the ultras more effective.

He said the focus in the near future would be on dealing with the challenge from Kandhamal-Kalahandi-Boudh-Nayagarh (KKBN) and Nayanpuri divisions of the outlawed CPI (Maoist).

Noting that the elections are going to be held in 2024, the DGP said that the Maoist-affected districts will pose a major challenge to the police and appropriate steps would be taken to deal with the situation.

The DGP chaired the high-level and strategically crucial meeting, attended among others by
Intelligence Director Sanjeeb Panda, ADG (Operations) Debadatta Singh, Intelligence DIG Anup Kumar Sahoo, and Special Intelligence Wing (SIW) DIG Umashankar Dash. Superintendents of Police (SPs) of 10 Maoists-affected districts and other senior officials also attended the meeting.

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Inspector General (IG), DIG, and Border Security Force (BSF) IG and DIG along with SPs of Boudh and Keonjhar districts also participated in the review meeting, sources said.