Bhubaneswar: Inter-state co-operation would be the dominant focus of the anti-Maoist strategy of the seven eastern states of the country battling Left wing insurgency.

"Co-ordination among states for strengthening the intelligence collection mechanism, sharing of intelligence and launching joint operations is extremely important to combat the Maoist menace," said Odisha director-general of police R.P. Sharma following the meeting of inter-state co-ordination committee on left wing extremism here on Friday.

Apart from Odisha, senior police officers from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar and Bengal attended the meeting that was presided over by K. Vijay Kumar, senior security advisor to the ministry of home affairs.

Officers from CRPF and BSF, the two forces playing a vital role in the war against Left wing extremism, also joined the brainstorming session at the Police Bhavan here.

"There are pockets of security vacuum, inaccessible areas on the Odisha-Andhra Pradesh border and in Malkangiri's 'cut-off' area. These areas are more approachable from the Andhra Pradesh side," Sharma said, adding that joint operations would be useful in such situations.

Though Sharma, who admitted that cross-border movement of Maoists was a problem for the security forces, refused to comment on whether the issue of tracking down CPI (Maoist) central committee member Ramakrishna was discussed at the meeting, sources said the name of the rebel chief, who remains a major headache for the security forces, did crop up.