Bhubaneswar, Sept. 5: Security forces are planning to launch a drive against Maoists with special focus on the border districts of Malkangiri and Koraput.

The decision to intensify the operation against the radicals was taken following the meeting between chief minister Naveen Patnaik and the director general of the Central Reserve Police Force, Rajeev Bhatnagar, here on August 28.

In the meeting, Bhatnagar had reportedly stressed the need for a joint offensive by state police and paramilitary forces against Maoists entering Odisha from Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh.

Malkangiri and Koraput districts are in focus in anti-Maoist drives mainly because of the fact that these two districts share long borders with the neighbouring states of Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh which also have a strong Maoist base.

Among other districts where security forces are expected to step up operations are Rayagada, Kandhamal, Kalahandi and Balangir. The rebels have already been well entrenched in Rayagada and Kandhamal, while they are trying their best to get a foothold in Kalahandi and Balangir, said a police officer.

'There is no doubt that the Maoists are most active in Malkangiri and Koraput. But, Rayagada and Kandhamal are equally important given the recurrent violence in these districts,' said sub-divisional police officer, Rayagada, Jagannath Rao, who was earlier posted in Koraput.

Koraput and Malkangiri have been the epicentres of Maoist violence in the state, the last major incident having taken place in February this year when eight state police personnel were killed in a landmine blast in Koraput's Sunki valley.

Maoists triggered the blast despite the existence of a camp of security forces in the valley, about two kilometres from the explosion site.

The blast was seen as a retaliatory attack by the Maoists who had lost 28 of their leaders and cadres in an encounter with the police in the neighbouring Malkangiri district in October last year.