On his maiden visit here on Saturday, DG of Police Sanjeev Marik reviewed the law and order situation in the region, especially from the angle of Maoist menace. law and order issues of the three police districts under the Western Range, Keonjhar, Rourkela and Sundargarh, were reviewed by him.After the review, Marik interacted with mediapersons on issues like police modernisation, CCTNS system and illegal mining. He informed that in 2004 there were around 40,000 police personnel in the State while the present strength of the force is 65,000.
Though PlFI and Pahadi Chitah activities in and around Sundargarh district are declining, redeployment of police forces is being worked out for better law and order situation in the area, Marik said. During the first week of July, there would be a coordination meeting between officers of a number of boarder police stations along with those of neighbouring Jharkhand to discuss many law and order issues of both States, the DGP said.
He claimed that the Odisha police is now one of active and vibrant policing systems in the country. A process of filling up Sub-Inspector-level posts is to be initiated very soon as about 50 per cent of such posts are lying vacant. Top priorities are given to red flagged cases, and there are 10 such cases in Sundargarh police district while five are in Rourkela and 12 in Keonjhar.
On the question of a Commissionerate Police for Rourkela, Marik said his department is already equipped with a blueprint for the purpose. Due to some statutory requirement like a fully functional Municipal Corporation, the process is held up. The Commissionerate Police system would be functional in next two to three months, he said. Besides, a process is on for strengthening the traffic police system of Rourkela and more traffic personnel would be deployed to control the traffic problem of the city soon, he added. Among others, Director (Intelligence) Sunil Ray, IG (WR) RK Sharma, SPs of Rourkela, Sundargarh and Keonjhar, Rourkela Railway SP and local OSAP Commandant were present.