Director General of Police Sunil Kumar Bansal paid a visit to Nuapada on Sunday to take a stock of the preparedness for the upcoming Panchayat polls and review the Maoist situation in the district.
This was the first visit of Bansal to a Maoist-affected district in the State after taking over the charge as DGP.
Bansal was accompanied by senior officials from the State police headquarters including Intelligence Director Lalit Das, IG Operations Amitabh Thakur, DIG Anirudha Singh and Nuapada SP Pratyush Diwaker.
Bansal held a meeting along with other top police officials to discuss the preparedness of the upcoming polls and the Maoist situation in the district. He also congratulated Odisha Police for their successful operations against the left-wing extremists at Sunabedha sanctuary along the Odisha-Chhattisgarh border.
The top police official visited Kalahandi after the completion of the meeting at Nuapada.
Later, talking to media persons, Bansal said, "Adequate police and security personnel will be provided to the district to conduct the forthcoming Panchayat polls in a smooth manner."
"Combing operations against the Maoists will be intensified ahead of the polls," he added.
(Edited by Pradeep Singh)