Bhubaneswar: For peaceful conduct of the first phase election in the State, the Police department has made tight security arrangements in the four Lok Sabha and 28 assembly constituencies which will go for poll tomorrow.
The Odisha Police is fully geared up for a smooth, impartial, free & fair election in the entire State. Voting will be held in four Lok Sabha and 28 MLA segments in 9 districts of Ganjam, Berhampur, Gajapati, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Rayagada and Kalahandi in the first phase, of which 6 districts of Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Nabarangpur, Nuapada, Kalahandi are Maoist affected, informed DGP Arun Sarangi here today.
For the entire first phase election areas, 17,000 manpower, 104 companies of CAPF, 66 platoons of State armed police force have been deployed, he said.
Shri Sarangi said that a total of 600 mobile parties are also deployed in the nine districts. Each mobile unit party is monitoring the law and order situation and election activities in 10 to 12 booths.
Further, inter-state border check posts with CCTV installed have been set up at 51 locations while intra-state border check posts opened at 50 locations. A total of 210 flying squad teams and 195 static surveillance teams have also engaged in election duty, the DGP said.
EVM strong rooms have been set up at 15 locations, which are being guarded round the clock by CAPF and SAP in a 2-tiered security system.
As many as 138 operational parties comprising CAPF and Odisha armed police have been put in action in Maoist affected areas where the election will be held in the first phase, May 13.
Elections will be held in 7,298 polling stations, of which 537 booths are located in the LWE (left wing extremism) affected areas. To ensure free and fair elections in these areas, special operational arrangements have been launched, Shri Sarangi said.
“We have launched 539 anti-Naxalite operations in these districts since January first week and one Maoist leader was neutralized in Nabarangpur district, while 138 operational parties of CAPF and 37 units of SOG/DVF (state armed police force) are in action,” the DGP told media persons here.
The security force units are conducting operations and area-dominating exercise in the Maoist-hit areas, he said.
As the election in Chhattisgarh has already been completed, it was expected that some Maoists may infiltrate into Odisha from the neighbouring state. So, Chhattisgarh state is also launching operations in five locations whereas Andhra Pradesh is launching nine such operations in the bordering areas, he informed.
To monitor anti-Maoist initiatives, he said, additional DGP (operation) S Deva Datta Singh, is camping in LWE affected Kalahandi district. Two choppers have been deployed at Jeypore in Odisha and Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh, for use in case of any emergency like evacuation of security forces or shifting of injured personnel, he added.
To ensure free & fair and inducement free poll, the Odisha police has stepped up enforcement activities. Since January 1, 2024, 33000 warrants have been executed, 7 persons have been booked under NSA, and 233 illegal arms have been seized, he further informed.
Similarly, 4.50 lakh litres of illegal liquor have been seized, 22000 cases registered and 3428 persons have been arrested. The Police have also seized 725 quintals of Ganja and 4.5 kg of brown sugar and 1048 persons have been arrested.
Moreover, 5000 acres of hemp cultivation destroyed, 3650 litres of cough syrup have been seized and 1048 persons arrested. Cash of Rs 4.1 crore has been seized.
So far, the police have received 111 social media related complaints against which 350 contents have been removed, five cases have been registered and one person has been arrested, he added.