No Maoist activities in Malkangiri, Koraput in past 3 years: BSF

Bhubaneswar: No Maoist activities were reported in Malkangiri and Koraput over the last three years because of the deployment of Border Security Force (BSF) in both the districts, said IG (Odisha) BSF D K Sharma said on Thursday.

Briefing reporters a day before the 59th BSF Raising day, Sharma said five battalions of the force were deployed in the two Maoist-hit districts in 2010 following a series of violent incidents. Later, the force was also deployed at Rayagada and Nabarangpur districts, he said.

‘’The Rayagada unit was moved to Kandhamal in January 2023. Since then, no Naxal activity has been reported in the area,’’ the IG said. ‘’Currently, Maoist activities are being reported from the districts of Kalahandi, Nuapada, Kalahandi and Boudh. In these districts, the ultras move in very small groups and whenever the forces raid their hideouts, they flee to remote areas,’’ he said.

Sharma said the force is also assisting the State government in implementation of development projects such as construction of roads, bridges, schools, power plants and mobile towers in inaccessible and Maoist-hit areas in Malkangiri, Koraput and Kandhamal districts.

Since its deployment in the State, the BSF, with the help of Odisha Police, has killed 65 Maoists and arrested 793.