Bhubaneswar: Ahead of the first phase of polling for the assembly elections in Jharkhand Wednesday, the Odisha police have tightened security in the districts sharing the border with the neighbouring state to ensure peaceful voting there, a senior police officer said.
Security has been tightened in the borders of Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar and Sundargarh districts close to Jharkhand. Check posts have been installed and armed personnel deployed round the clock to prevent entry of unwanted people and materials to the poll-bound state, said Odisha’s ADG Law and Order Sanjay Kumar.
“The measures were taken after a meeting with the Election Commission of India (ECI). Odisha has already established 29 check posts in the border districts and intensified patrolling in all the sensitive areas,” the ADG said.
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Meanwhile, a report from Rourkela said that the Sundargarh police were in touch with the West Singhbhum district police. The objective of the coordination is to ensure that any attempt by Maoists to disrupt the elections is prevented.
Sundargarh has a 75 km border with Jharkhand and most of the places are forested areas.
The security arrangements were made in the wake of the Bihar-Jharkhand Special Area Committee of the outlawed CPI (Maoist) outfit asking Jharkhand voters to boycott the election through posters and banners.
The Rourkela police in coordination with their West Singhbhum counterparts are regularly carrying out anti-Naxal operations along the border. The ADG said Jharkhand-bound trains and buses are being checked.
PTI
