Recruitment into Naxalite ranks is now negligible in Odisha while it has taken a huge fall in Chhattisgarh, the Border Security Force (BSF) said on Monday.
R.S. Bhatti, the Additional Director General of the BSF (Special Operations), said there has been a drastic reduction in the recruitment of local people by Naxalite groups in both the states.
The BSF has in the last more than a decade sacrificed 38 officers and troopers and arrested 1,650 Maoists, killed 18 and forced 891 to surrender, he said.
Along with this, the BSF has seized 1,473 weapons, 958 IDs and 3,176 kg of gunpowder. In 2021, 15 weapons and 54 IEDs were seized by the BSF and 14 Maoists surrendered or were arrested, he said.
The BSF deployed in Chhattisgarh and Odisha is playing an important role in ensuring security and in developing the area, Bhatti told the media at the Command Headquarters (Special Operations) at Nava Raipur.
He announced that on Republic Day, a Boat Ambulance Services will be launched in ‘Swabhiman Anchal’ of Malkangiri district of Odisha. It would benefit 30,000 villagers of 151 villages. This is to ensure the quickest medical relief to the villagers.
He said a tribal youth exchange programme is being organized, where tribal boys and girls visit various historical and cultural places of the country.
On the Rowghat Mining and Rail Project, he said work on the 60-km railway line from Dalli Rajhara to Antagarh has been completed. Work on the remaining 35 km line is going on in full swing for which security has been provided by the BSF.
