Bhubaneswar: Police officials of Odisha and five other neighbouring states discussed the security arrangements for the upcoming general elections at the ongoing inter-state Police meet in Bhubaneswar today.
Speaking to the media about the meet, Odisha Home department secretary, Asit Tripathi said "We have good cooperation with neighbouring states and it has brought us success in curbing left wing extremism. Such meetings are necessary before elections. When the Election Commission of India visited the state, they had also sought inter-state police cooperation."
Intelligence sharing among the states and security arrangements in Naxal-affected regions were amongst the major topics discussed at the meet today. Speaking on inter-state coordination, Odisha Police DG, RP Sharma said "We already have a mechanism of intelligence sharing and joint operations. We have to work more for joint operations. Specially, in Andhra-Odisha border and our border with Chhattisgarh, there are certain areas where there is a security vacuum. We have to take care of those areas."
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"Almost all the neighbouring states, to some degree or other, are grappling with left wing extremism. Year 2018 has been a relatively successful year for almost all the states including Odisha in curbing Maoist menace. During elections, the Maoists augment their activities and they have already given an election boycott call. We have to be totally alert," he added.