Angul: Police claimed to have contained Maoist activities in the Satkosia Wildlife Sanctuary through a series of combing operations carried out jointly by the Central Reserve Police Force, District Voluntary Force and Special Operations Group.
Thirty-two operations were carried out in the region in 2017 as compared to 57 the previous year to flush out Maoists, Angul superintendent of police Brijesh Rai has claimed.
"Whenever we have received information about their movement, we have promptly launched operations forcing them to flee to neighbouring Boudh, Nuapara and Sambalpur areas," he said.
Rai also denied reports about extortion demands being made by the rebels. A Satkosia villager had claimed the Maoists had demanded Rs 2 lakh from him though a leaflet that they threw into his house.
He also ruled out the presence of Maoists anywhere other than Satksoia when he was asked whether they were present at Nagira, Pallahara.
Rai claimed the major crime graph had been on a slide in 2017 as compared to 2016 although overall crime graph had increased with the rise on miscellaneous crimes in the district. "In contrast to earlier times when people settled their disputes at village panchayats, they now come to police stations with complaints about minor offences," he said.
He 74 rape cases had been reported in 2016 while the number came down to 62 in 2017. There were also 134 burglaries reported in 2017 as compared to 177 in 2016. Also, 41 murders took place in 2017 while the number was 58 in 2016.
He said there was a spurt in minor cases in 2017 when a total of 4,287 cases were reported. The number was 3,975 the previous year. When it comes to road accidents, there were 448 with 193 casualties in 2017 while in 2016, there were 425 accidents with 220 deaths.
"There is strict instruction to the police officials to register cases when any complaint comes to the police station," he said. Mentioning that certain police station areas, including Angul and Talcher, were burglary-prone, he said steps were being taken to check it by intensifying patrolling and taking other measures. However lack of manpower was a problem.
