ODISHA POLICE TO USE DRONES TO TRACK MAOISTS DURING PANCHAYAT POLLS

Bureau,Odishabarta

Malkangiri: Odisha Police will use drones to track any movement by Maoists during the coming panchayat polls in the State, Director General of Police Sunil Kumar Bansal said on Friday. If required, helicopters will be used at certain places to ensure smooth polling during the three-tier panchayat election in the State to be held in five phases between February 16 and 24, he told reporters in Malkangiri.

Bansal visited Koraput and Swabhiman Anchal in Malkangiri and Kandhamal districts along with southern Odisha district superintendents of police to review the poll preparedness in Maoist-affected areas.

The panchayat polls at Chitrakonda block in Malkangiri district could not be held in 2017 due to Maoist threat and there are reports that the outlawed CPI(Maoist) is making efforts to disrupt the coming panchayat poll in the State. Police have intensified vigil after Maoists killed at least two civilians in six days in Kalahandi and Kandhamal districts by detonating IEDs and put up posters in various LWE-affected districts asking people to boycott the rural poll.