BSF jawans to be redeployed in Maoist-prone areas: Odisha DGP

BHUBANESWAR: Odisha's Director General of Police (DGP) Sanjeev Marik today said Border Security Force (BSF) jawans engaged in Maoist-prone areas in the state will be re-deployed keeping in view the intelligence inputs.

"We took stock of the Maoist situation in the state and discussed the redeployment of the BSF personnel so as to make all possible use of the central forces.

"We have decided to withdraw the BSF from places where Maoist activities have scaled down and redeploy them in places where there has been a spurt in Left Wing Extremism (LWE)," Marik said after a meeting of the state police and the BSF.

Presently, BSF jawans were deployed in the Maoist hot-bed of Koraput and Malkangiri districts. Their presence has helped the state police to weed out the rebels from certain pockets, sources in state home department said.

Besides senior police officers of Odisha Police, BSF's additional DG K K Sharma discussed on the Maoist situation and operations in the state and it was decided to relocate the forces to areas where Maoists were more active.

Marik said the focus of the meeting was to develop strategies based on inputs provided by various intelligence agencies.

Lauding the role of state intelligence network, he said, "Based on our own intelligence, we are in a better position to take decisions on allocation of forces for effective control of LWE and monitor anti-Maoist operations."

The decision to relocate BSF jawans was taken after the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) DG Prakash Mishra took a similar decision.

Mishra visited the state to take stock of the progress made in curbing Maoist menace and had revealed that forces would be removed from less sensitive areas and deployed in regions where Maoists were more active.

The CRPF DG also said Maoist violence had declined in districts like Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar and parts of Ganjam, while the LWE had strengthened its base in regions like Sunabeda and Nuapada in the recent past.