"Working towards making Odisha naxal-free by March 2026": DGP YB Khurania

Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], September 4 : After a crucial meeting with senior police officers in Bhubaneswar, Odisha Director General of Police (DGP) YB Khurania said that anti-naxal operations have intensified and that the authorities are working towards making the state naxal-free by March 2026.
Speaking to ANI, Odisha DGP YB Khurania said, "Today, I had a meeting with the District Superintendent of Police (SPs) of all the Naxal-affected districts. We reviewed the operations that are happening on the ground and how we can take operations in a fast-forward way, so that by March 2026, the problem of left-wing extremists can be done away with. I also heard their requirements and how state police can help them."
"We have drawn in an action plan that will be implemented in the days to come and the operations on the ground will increase," said the DGP.
Notably, nine Naxals were killed during an encounter operation in the forest at the Dantewada-Bijapur border in Chhattisgarh on Tuesday.
As the operation is intensifying in the neighbouring state's border, there is a threat of infiltration into Odisha.
Therefore, Odisha Police has prepared a strategy to deal with it and the neighbouring districts of Chhattisgarh have been alerted.
Border security has been beefed up, especially in view of the threat of infiltration into Odisha through the Nuapada district.
The borders of Chhattisgarh's neighbouring districts of Malkangiri, Koraput, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Bargarh, Sundergarh and Nabarangpur have been sealed.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai on Tuesday saluted the bravery of soldiers for killing 9 Naxals in the border area of Dantewada and Bijapur districts and said that the Bharatiya Janata Party has been fighting with Naxalism since it came to power and soon it will be wiped out.