Naveen Patnaik asks home secretary, DGP to rush to Maoist-hit Koraput

BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik asked the home secretary and director general of police ( DGP) to rush to Koraput district and take stock of the situation in the southern region of the state.

Patnaik issued this direction while presiding over a high level review meeting on Tuesday's landmine blast where at least four BSF jawans were killed and three others sustained injuries.

"The Chief Minister asked the two senior officials to go to Koraput and report him about the prevailing situation in there," a senior official said.

Besides, home secretary Vipin Kumar Saxena and DGP Prakash Mishra, the director of intelligence and inspector general (operation) attended the meeting.

They have already visited the blast spot at Raleguda under Pottangi police station where a vehicle carrying BSF jawans was ambushed by the Maoists, the official said.

While asking the state police to gear up combing operation in affected areas of Koraput district, sources said, Patnaik also directed senior officials to have better coordination with paramilitary forces.

At least five battalions of BSF jawans have been deployed in Odisha's Maoist-hit Koraput and Malkangiri districts.

Besides BSF, Central Reserve Police Force ( CRPF) jawans and Odisha's elite anti-naxal Special Operation Group (SOG) force have been deployed in anti-Maoist operation in the state.