Security stepped up for peaceful poll in Jharkhand: CRPF

RANCHI: Security forces are fully geared up to conduct the Lok Sabha polls peacefully, particularly in Maoist-affected districts, in Jharkhand.

"The CRPF along with other security agencies is fully geared up to conduct free, fair and fearless elections in the state," Inspector General of Police (CRPF) M V Rao said.

"We are prepared to meet any challenge wherever Maoist influence is there," Rao told reporters to a question that 13 districts have been identified by the Centre as " highly sensitive" for Maoist activities.

The 13 Jharkhand districts are part of the 33 districts spread in Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Odisha, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.

As per a recent circular issued by the union home ministry asking all Maoist-hit states to step up anti-naxal operations, Jharkhand police were already on a "mission mode" with arrests of rebels and recovery of weapons and explosives among others, a senior police officer said.