While the Odisha Police are bracing up for the first phase of polling in the General Elections in that State scheduled for Thursday, in the Maoist-affected areas, Visakhapatnam district police will be watching the situation and take appropriate action during ZPTC and MPTC elections to be held in the district, including the Visakha Agency bordering Odisha, on Friday.
“We are fully geared up for the elections and will be watching the situation in Malkangiri and Koraput districts bordering our Agency and take appropriate action. With the police stepping up their combing in Odisha for the elections, the Maoists might cross over to Visakha Agency side to escape the heat but we are prepared,” Superintendent of Police Vikram Jeet Duggal said at a press conference here on Wednesday.
The 11 mandals of Visakha Agency along with six mandals, two in Anakapalle Revenue Division and four in Narsipatnam Revenue Division are going to the polls in the second phase. There were more hyper sensitive polling stations in the first phase of elections held on last Sunday but polling was peaceful, he said. There are some sensitive and hyper sensitive polling stations in the six plain mandals in the second phase.
Police and paramilitary forces have been deployed and combing operations are being conducted extensively. Security for each polling station has been decided and policemen would be deployed one day before the polling day. A total of 328 polling stations are in the extremist-affected areas and they would be taken care of while two helicopters were sought, Mr. Duggal said.
Maoists gave a call to boycott the elections but the SP was confident that the Girijans would not heed to the call and was expecting a good turnout of voters like in the panchayat elections held a few months ago.
