Eight Maoists killed in Odisha in 2019: Report

Bhubaneswar: At least eight Maoists were killed, 50 arrested and 13 surrendered during 2019 across Odisha, according to a Home department standing committee report.

It said that 44 left wing extremism incidents were reported during last year of which 12 incidents were exchange of fire between the security personnel and the Maoists. The report was tabled in the Odisha Assembly on Wednesday.

The departmental committee headed by senior BJD lawmaker Kishore Kumar Mohanty also said the police have seized 21 guns, 30 Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) and a large quantity of ammunition during anti-naxal operations.

LWE activities across the state remain by and large under control in the state, the report said, adding that the situation remained challenging in some parts of Malkangiri, Koraput, Kalahandi, Rayagada, Kandhamal, Nuapada, Bolangir and Nabarangpur districts.

In order to review the security situation in LWE affected areas and to carefully monitor the anti-naxalite operations carried out by the state security personnel and the Central Armed Police Force, the state level Unified Command under the chairmanship of chief secretary, Odisha, has been constituted.

The meetings of the unified command are held regularly. Twenty six meetings have been held so far and the last one was held on May 31, 2019, the report said.

On the crime situation, the report said the state has registered a total of 1,21,525 cognizable cases including 1,356 murder, 587 dacoity, 2492 robbery, 4,149 burglary, 10,766 theft, 3,807 swindling, 1,993 rioting, 2,950 rape, 11,064 MV Accident and 82,361 other small cases during 2019.

(PTI)