The State would have three new Police Commissionerates in Brahmapur, Rourkela and Sambalpur. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik gave his in-principle approval for the proposal on Sunday.
Senior officers of the IG and DIG ranks would be in charge of the new commissionerates, sources said. The Police Commissionerate system was first introduced in the twin city of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack in 2008 under the Odisha Urban Police (OUP) Act, 2003. The proposal for the introduction of the three commissionerates to tackle the increasing law and order challenges in the three cities was submitted by the State police to the Home Department recently.
The Urban Police Act provides for creation of commissionerates for the places which have municipal corporations, a status that only one of the three cities, Brahmapur, has currently. The civic bodies of Sambalpur and Rourkela are yet to receive the official status of corporations.