Polling officials board a chopper to depart for election duty in Maoist-affected remote areas in Nuapada district headquarters town on Wednesday. PTI

Armed with three helicopters and 60 companies of central para-military forces, state police has made elaborate security arrangements for smooth conduct of the polls in the Maoist-hit southern and western districts tomorrow.

Director general of police Prakash Mishra said the Centre had provided three helicopters for Malkangiri, Koraput and Nuapada districts. Sixty companies of central para-military forces had also arrived and they had been deputed to the western and southern districts to maintain law and order during the polling tomorrow.

The para military forces include Central Reserve Police Force, Border Security Force and Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel.

Besides, 26,000 state police personnel had been deployed for poll duty.

Security had been beefed up in the Maoist-affected areas as the Maoists have called upon the people to boycott the polls.

State’s chief electoral officer Mona Sharma said all necessary measures had been initiated to ensure free and peaceful polls.

The polling will be held from 7am to 4pm in the booths in 54 Assembly segments that come under Maoist-hit pockets, while the polling time will be normal (7am to 6pm) in 16 other Assembly segments.

Inspector general of police (south-western range) Y.K. Jethwa today visited Naxal-affected areas on Chhattisgarh border in Navrangpur district and reviewed security arrangements for 97 Maoist-affected polling booths. He was accompanied by the inspector general of Border Security Force, the police superintendent of Navrangpur and the district collector. Joint operations were launched on border areas along with Chhattisgarh police, Jethwa told The Telegraph.

The chief electoral officer instructed the government to seal the inter-state borders from today till the end of the first phase of elections to prevent transport of any banned material into the state.

Nodal officer for election Naba Nayak said that the police had been instructed to keep a watch on the border, particularly on the border checkgates along with the commercial tax officers.

“All the vehicles will be thoroughly checked. The flying squad will make rounds at these points,” said Nayak.

There are at least 15 checkgates on the inter-state border connecting the neighbouring states.

The chief electoral officers of the neighbouring states such as Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh have also been requested to instruct the officials there to shut the liquor shops in the border districts. The liquor shops in the 19 southern and western districts will remain closed tomorrow to ensure that the voters are not influenced in any manner.

Nayak also said that the flying squads would keep a special vigil on ambulances and police vans during electioneering. In another development, Opposition parties, particularly Congress, had alleged a few days ago that ambulances and police vehicles were being allegedly used by the BJD for transport of cash.

Reports from Balangir said security had been tightened in the sensitive booths of Patnagarh and Kantabanjhi Assembly constituencies which are often affected by Maoist activities. Over the last three years, the Maoists have made their presence felt in Balangir district and they use the forest route that connects Balangir with Nuapada district. Since Nuapada and Chhattisgarh share border and there is a dense forest in the Sunabeda sanctuary, the rebels can easily sneak into the sanctuary and find their way to Khaprakhole and Turekela blocks of Balangir from there through the forest route.