Bhubaneswar, May 14: The state government today quoted statistics to refute the Centre’s “negative” observations about the Maoist situation in the state in a face-saving effort.

Replying to the Centre’s charge that Left wing insurgency was on an upswing in the state, sent in an advisory issued last week, director-general of police Manmohan Prahraj in a letter to the Union home secretary R.K. Singh asserted that rebel violence was actually on the decline in Odisha, the result of proactive anti-Maoist operations.

“Maoist violence came down significantly in 2011 compared to 2010. Between 2011 and May 2012, as many 27 rebels were killed in police operations and 194 were arrested. Sixty rebels laid down arms during this period and we also seized a huge cache of arms from them,” said Prahraj in the letter .

The top cop said that while rebel activities had been contained significantly in Rayagada district, the overall situation in Malkangiri, a known Maoist stronghold, had improved.

He also cited the cases of Deogarh, Sundergarh and Sambalpur in western Odisha and Keonjhar, Jajpur and Dhenkanal in the north-western parts of the state to prove his point that violence by the radicals was on the decline. However, the officer felt constrained to admit that rebel activities in Narayanpatna of Koraput district and in certain areas of Kandhamal, Nuapada and Balangir remained a cause for concern.

Highlighting the areas where the state needed the Centre’s help, Prahraj said that while it was wrong to say that the district superintendents of police were not putting their hearts into the anti-Maoist operations, Odisha did have a shortage of young IPS officers.

The top cop, however, failed to give a direct reply to the Centre’s charge that Left wing extremism was spreading to new areas in the state for want of adequate response from the government.

The top cop’s letter to the Union home secretary came on a day when ruling BJD MLA Jhina Hikaka, who was held hostage by the Maoists over a month, met chief minister Naveen Patnaik for the second time to discuss his future.

“I will continue to serve the people,” said the 38-year-old tribal legislator from Laxmipur. Commenting on the speculation about his resignation from the Assembly, he said: “I have left the decision to the chief minister. I will follow whatever he asks me to do,” said Hikaka.

Odisha’s borders with Chhattisgarh were sealed today and combing stepped up in the bordering districts of Malkangiri and Koraput following the killing of six CISF jawans by Maoist rebels in the neighbouring state.