With left wing extremists extending their network in Odisha's Kandhamal district, the police has launched Jana Sampark Sivir to divert attention of the youths who are finding easy access to Maoists activities.
"In order to keep the educated and unemployed youth mass from the clutches of the Maoists, the district administration has started organising 'Jana Sampark Sivir' in a planned manner which has so far proved fruitful," said the Kandhamal Superintendent of Police Kunor Bilash Singh.
Singh claimed that the programme has succeeded in bringing the poor tribal people closer to the police as 'friend and familiar' person.
Socio-economic and cultural programmes are also performed with a view to bridge the gap between the administration and the public, Singh said.
The district administration's awareness campaign was apart from intensifying combing operation in the reserve forest and village forest areas in all the infested police stations limit in a routine manner.
Apart from patrolling; blocking, checking and nakabandi are being done regularly in these areas. But vast and deep forest cover and difficult terrain with thin population and inaccessibility and absence of mobile network facility have impeded the venture to a great extent, he said.
Of the total 18 police stations in the district, as many as 9 PSs are identified as Maoist prone, Singh said.
"With a view to curb the extremist problem and to avoid any untoward situation as regard the growing activities, we have deployed adequate armed forces like 4 Companies of CRPF, 2 Units of SOG, One unit of DVF, 5 Platoons of OSSF, 5 Platoons of IRB in addition to the existing APR forces who remain alert for round the clock," he said.
