Cuttack, Jan. 7: Police are prepared to tackle any kind of terrorist attacks, said director-general of police K.B. Singh at the 59th Senior Police Officers Conference here today.

"We have a dedicated tactical unit based in Bhubaneswar with 70 to 80 trained personnel and they are well-equipped to handle any emergency situation," said Singh.

Being ready to handle exigencies related to terrorism has become the need of the hour in the state, especially with the arrest of Abdul Rahman, 37, a cleric from Jagatpur, last year, for his alleged links with al Qaida in Indian Subcontinent.

In January, 2015, a contractual cameraman of Defence Research Development Organisation's Integrated Test Range at Chandipur was also arrested on the charge of spying for Pakistan's Intelligence agency ISI.

Singh said filling up the promotional posts of various ranks in districts, battalions and ranges, quick disposal of proceeding cases and filling up of vacant posts would done in a time-bound manner.

Apart from terrorism, Left-wing extremism remains another area of concern with the Maoists expanding their base to newer areas even though the menace has been controlled to a great extent in the state in the past two years.

Police officials said Maoist activities were now being reported from some new areas such as Angul and Mayurbhanj. Though nine rebels were killed in various operations and 63 surrendered last year, containing the menace, particularly in Malkangiri, Deogarh, Sundargarh and Nayagarh is still a challenge for cops.

Around 126 police officials, including superintendents of police of all districts, commandants of all armed police battalions, range IGs and DIGs, IPS officers and senior officers of various police establishments, home guards, state vigilance, prison and others attended the first day of the meet that began today.