In the wake of the arrest of five terrorists from Rourkela, the BJP on Wednesday questioned the efficiency of the Odisha police, which had no information about the extremists even though they had travelled to various parts of Odisha since 2014.
Speaking to the mediapersons, senior BJP leader Bijay Mohapatra said this is a failure of the police department. “They (terrorists) have visited Rayagada, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur and Bhadrak in 2014. But it is a matter of shame that State police was completely in the dark about it,” Mohapatra said.
The DGP had visited Bargarh Tuesday to review the security arrangements for the Prime Minister’s visit. “It is a matter of concern that he did not know about the presence of terrorists, who were arrested from Rourkela with the help of Telangana police with inputs from Intelligence Bureau (IB). There is no need to show their efficiency at a Press meet,” the saffron leader said.
“Madhya Pradesh Police once raided a place in Sambalpur to nab the most dreaded terrorists. But Odisha police did not wake up from its slumber even after that,” he alleged.
Raising concern about the security of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is coming to Bargarh to attend a mega farmers’ rally on February 21, the BJP leader said security of the Prime Minster should not be compromised under any circumstances. “Prime Minister’s security is the most sensitive issue in the country now. The State Government would be responsible if there are any security lapses during his visit,” he warned.
Notably, five terrorists, including a woman, of banned Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) were arrested by police in Rourkela in the wee hours of Wednesday after a 3-hour-long exchange of fire. The five terrorists have been identified as Mehboob Khan alias Guddu, Zakir Khan alias Sadiq, Amjad Khan alias Dawood, Saliq alias Sallu and Najma (Mehboob’s mother). Mehboob, Zakhir, Amjad and Saliq are all residents of Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh. They were among the most-wanted terrorists in the country with a cash reward of `10 lakh each announced by the NIA.
Five of them were staying at a rented flat in Qureshi Mohalla under Plant Site police station. A joint team of Special Operations Group (SOG), Telangana Police, Rourkela Police and Intelligence Bureau conducted the operation to nab them.