Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, police have started chalking out strategies to deal with maoists.
Hyderabad: B. Prasada Rao, the director-general of police, said on Tuesday that several extremist-affected districts in the state were under threat from Maoist action teams ahead of the polls. Police is also reviewing the threat perception to politicians across the state. After the Maoist attack on CRPF jawans in Chhattisgarh, the police machinery has been activated in extremist-affected districts bordering Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Maharashtra.
“We are aware of the looming Maoist threat. All counter extremist measures are in place. Greyhounds have been deployed to contain infiltration. Maoists have the practice of forming action teams with two or three men and conduct reconnaissance. We are taking measures to counter this. Cadres from Chhattisgarh and Odisha may try to come into AP,” said Mr Rao.
He added that the districts of Khammam, Karimnagar, Warangal, East Godavari, Visakhapatnam Rural and Srikakulam were considered extremist-affected with Khammam and Visakhapatnam Rural districts being the worst affected. The DGP had held a teleconference on March 10 with superintendents of police of the Naxal-affected districts.
“Maoists give boycott calls during elections and try to stall the election process. But we are ready to tackle the situation. We are giving advisories to politicians who tour remote areas during campaigns,” added Mr Rao.
Out of 68,678 polling booths, the state police has identified 26,135 booths as critical. When categorised as polling stations, the total number would be 42,0794, out of which 14,213 stations would be critical. Some polling stations have more than one polling booth.
He added that helicopters would be used in highly sensitive inaccessible villages of Khammam and Visakhapatnam Rural to airlift personnel and ballot boxes. Politicians will be given additional security, said the DGP.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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