Bhubaneswar: Chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi has directed the Odisha police to maintain heightened vigilance in districts freed from Maoist influence to prevent any resurgence. According to govt sources central forces will remain deployed until 2029 to ensure Maoists do not regroup.Reviewing the situation on Saturday in the aftermath of the elimination of left‑wing extremism (LWE) on March 31, Majhi stressed the need to recover arms looted by the Maoists in the past, and urged departments to implement govt schemes to saturation level in the affected regions.At the meeting, ADG (anti‑Naxal operations) Sanjeeb Panda said CRPF and BSF will not be withdrawn before 2029. “They will continue to guard Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Kalahandi, Rayagada, Kandhamal, Boudh, Nuapada and Rourkela. We have intensified efforts to trace stolen arms, and a large cache has already been recovered,” said Panda, adding that the surrendered Maoists are being interrogated to locate hidden dumps.According to police, Maoists looted 1,619 weapons from security forces in Odisha over the years. Of these, 894 have been recovered during encounters, arrests, surrenders and raids on dumps in forests. Among them, 137 belonged to the central forces and police of other states. Odisha police have also tracked 247 weapons recovered outside the state — including 169 in Chhattisgarh, 39 in Telangana, 27 in Maharashtra, eight in Andhra Pradesh, two in Tamil Nadu, and one each in Jharkhand and Karnataka.“We shared the recovery list with other state police and central forces. Of the 137 weapons, 21 have been backtracked to different states and CRPF. Efforts are on to trace the remaining,” Panda said.Officials said the govt’s Gramodaya initiative has been fast‑tracked in erstwhile Maoist strongholds. Recently, Rs 2.42 crore was sanctioned to promote sports among local youth in these regions. Launched in Oct 2024, Gramodaya covers 485 villages across Bargarh, Balangir, Boudh, Kandhamal, Kalahandi, Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Nuapada and Rayagada districts.Govt authorities emphasised that Gramodaya is providing essential infrastructure — road connectivity, healthcare, community centres, water supply, recreational spaces, solar lighting, subsidised shops, agricultural support, electricity, schools, telecommunications and banking services — to transform the socio‑economic landscape of areas once gripped by Maoist violence.
