Inter-State Coordination Meeting Held in Cuttack to Ensure Impartial General Elections 2024

Cuttack: In preparation for the upcoming General Election 2024, an inter-state coordination meeting was convened on Friday at the state police headquarters in Cuttack. The meeting aimed to ensure a fair, impartial, and crime-free electoral process during the four phases of elections scheduled to take place in May and June.

The event brought together high-ranking police officials from Odisha and neighbouring West Bengal, including the Director General of State Police, Arun Kumar Sarangi, Additional Director General of Police (Headquarters), R. K. Sharma, and Director (Intelligence), Saumendra Priyadarshi. West Bengal’s Director General of Police, Sanjay Mukhopadhyay, accompanied by senior police officers and Superintendents of Police (SPs) from border districts, also participated in the meeting.

Given the proximity of Balswar and Mayurbhanj districts to West Bengal, the senior police officers emphasized the importance of ensuring peaceful, impartial, and crime-free elections in these border regions. DGP Sarangi highlighted the necessity of cracking down on the trafficking of dangerous drugs like brown sugar, particularly from areas such as Lalgola, Murshidabad, and Bardhaman in West Bengal.

The meeting deliberated extensively on enforcing stringent checks at border toll gates, conducting vehicle inspections at sensitive locations, and preventing illegal activities such as the trafficking of weapons, liquor, drugs, and money laundering. Additionally, strategies for apprehending inter-state criminals were discussed.

Special attention was given to identifying sensitive areas prone to drug smuggling and mitigating election-related violence. The agenda also included intelligence sharing, combating the spread of fake news on social media, conducting joint inspections at inter-state toll gates, monitoring money transactions through UPI IDs, preventing cybercrimes, and curbing cannabis smuggling.

The meeting concluded with a consensus on implementing special measures to apprehend criminals with warrants and habitual offenders, thereby ensuring the safety and fairness of the electoral process.