POLICE ADMINISTRATION

POLICE ADMINISTRATION

            LAW AND ORDER

1               The Law and order in the State during the year 2005-06 was by and large peaceful except the isolated and unfortunate incident in Kalinga Nagar in Jajpur District, which had occurred on 02.01.2006. The Kalinga Nagar issue has engaged the deep attention of the State Government and normalcy is returning to the area. Displaying the spirit of impartial administration, a judicial probe into the incident, by a sitting Judge of Orissa High Court, has been ordered. Even as the leaders of different parties, youth organisations, students’ organisations, labour Unions, etc. had resorted to agitational approach by staging ‘Dharana’, ‘Railroko’, ‘Road blockade’ etc., due to timely and restrained action by the Police, no untoward incident has been reported. Communal harmony prevailed during the period. Traditional festivals were also observed with gaiety.

However, the left wing extremism, in parts of Southern, Western and Northern Orissa, continued to be a matter of concern. All the possible steps have been taken to combat the extremism. There has been a decline in the dowry suicide cases. During the year 2005, the police resorted to firing on 4 occasions to disperse the riotous mob, on 2 for crime control and on 3 to counter Maoist activities. To control the unruly mob, the police resorted to lathi charge on 5 occasions and lobbed the tear gas shells on 2 occasions.



2   BUNDH, RASTA ROKO & RAIL ROKO AGITATION :

The opposition political parties, their front organisations and local groups organised 60 ‘Bundhs,’ 381 “ Rasta roko” and 8 of “rail roko” during 2005. None of them, snow-balled into the major incidents.

3    Communal HARMONY :



                      Communal situation, by and large, remained harmonious in the State. Minor communal tensions were reported though relating to conversion, reverse conversion, cow slaughter, illegal and cruel transportation of cattle, kidnapping/alluring of girls of other communities and on the land related disputes. There were 36 reported instances of Hindu -Muslim and 15 of Hindu-Christian discord.

4    LABOUR AND SERVICES :

                   There was no State-wide labour unrest affecting the law and order. However, members of the All Orissa Lift Irrigation Corporation Employees Federation, United Forum of Employees and Teachers and the Trade Unions of various hues and colour remained quite active in organising their agitational programmes through the year at the various places.



5    INDUSTRIAL

                        Government of Orissa have been trying its best since 2001 to bring about the development of the State through rapid industrialization The process has gained the momentum after 2004. Rapid industrialization is taking place at the various places. This has brought in its wake lots of problems impinging upon the law and order. This has been tackled quite competently by the police. There had been no flare up except in Kalinga Nagar.



6       STUDENT UNREST :.

               Students’ Union elections of different colleges of the State were held peacefully . All India Olchiki Students’ Union was particularly active during the year in the Districts of Mayurbhanj and Keonhjhar demanding introduction of Olchiki script from primary to University level and posting of teacher in the same subject. On 08.07.2005, some of the students of Revenshaw College vandalised the Cuttack Railway Station and detained some fast moving trains.The twenty of them were arrested. A state level rally was organized on 11.11.2005 by the ABVP (12,000) demanding filling up of vacancies of teaching staff in different colleges, regular payment of salary to lecturers, reservation of seats for S.C./S.T. and O.B.C. students in Engineering and Medical Colleges, declaration of examination results within 45 days etc.

7        LEFT WING EXTREMISM :

Fourteen of the 30 districts of Orissa are affected by naxalite activities of varying intensity.   The CPI (Maoist ) has been making efforts to expand its activities to coastal districts of Jajpur and Dhenkanal.

The Naxalites killed Abdul Sukur Khan in Rayagada District on 28.03.2005. They attacked the house of Doki Satyanarayan in Rayagada District on 1.4.2005 and also blast up on 24.05.2004 the Seshkhal Police Out Post building and an other newly constructed building located nearby. They killed Subash Biswas (Contractor) on 27.09.2005, in Malkangiri District and also blasted a vehicle in Motu Police Station area of Malkangiri district on 29.09.2005. In which two persons had died. They had attacked on 02.11.2005 a Section of APR of Malkangiri district, deployed at MV-55 under Kalimela Police Station to guard the house of former Minister and BJP leader Shri Arabinda Dhali. There was no casualty by the 8 weapons (4 SLRs and four 303 rifles) and some ammunition were snatched away from the police forces.

There was a significant increase in Maoist violence in Sambalpur and Deogarh districts. The extremists committed gruesome murder of eight civilians of five Villages in Jujumura Police Station area of Sambalpur district in the months of May and July, 2005. One Section of OSAP, deployed at Badarama under Jamankira Police Station of Sambalpur District, was attacked by a group of Naxalities (30 to 40). The extremists snatched away from Police the 4 SLRs and some ammunition. One O.S.A.P. Sepoy had also died in this incident. The four others, including one civilian, sustained injuries. Movement of an armed group of extremists was noticed in the contiguous belt of Jajpur, Keonjhar and Dhenkanal districts in the months of March-April, 2005.

        They had organised a few meetings and tried to motivate the villagers to join their organisation. After the operations were mounted against them, they scaled down their movements.

        Three Battalions of CRPF continue to be engaged in Orissa for anti-naxalite operations along with the O.S.A.P. Fourteen (14) Sub-Groups of SOG have been deployed at strategic locations to give the depths to the anti-naxalite operations. Intelligence gathering has been intensified. During the year, about 180 extremists or their sympathizers/activists were arrested. Police unearthed about 50 land mines, detonators, gelatin sticks and failed the attempts of the extremists to cause serious disruption.

        The State Government has taken several pro-active measures to effectively deal with the extremist problem. These include (i) creation of a Special Intelligence Wing (SIW) and Special Operations Group (SOG); (ii) Strengthening of the physical security of Police Stations &Posts; (iii) Training of the State Police Personnel in Anti-Extremist Tactics Course; (iv) raising of 2^nd IR Bn; and (v) Establishing a mechanism for co-operation and co-ordination with the neighbouring extremism affected States.