'Security wing for VIPs to foil naxal activities'

Bhubaneswar, Nov 26. (PTI): The Orissa Government has decided to create an exclusive security wing for the protection of VIP functionaries and important installations in the State in the wake of increasing naxalite activities, Chief Minister Navin Pattnaik has said.
A series of measures are also being initiated to strengthen police stations in areas susceptible to left wing extremism, Pattnaik told the State Assembly on Friday night during a debate on the demand for supplementary grants relating to the home department.
In a bid to augment manpower, a recruitment drive was being launched, he said adding 6,011 new posts had been sanctioned including 916 in 83 police stations located in naxal-infested areas.
In addition, 4,806 vacancies in the department, including 1,982 at the district level and 2,824 in the Orissa Special Armed Police (OSAP) would be filled up, he said.
The Government has also decided to recruit 1,052 ex-servicemen on a contract basis for two years for deployment in naxalite affected areas, he said.
The Chief Minister, however, said though it was a cause of concern, naxalite-related incidents in Orissa were much less compared to other neighbouring states.
He said, only 36 naxalite-related incidents had taken place in the State till September this year resulting in 25 human casualties while 341 persons had been killed in 560 such incidents in Chhatisgarh in the same period.
Ninety one deaths had occurred following 328 incidents in Jharkhand, while Andhra Pradesh and Bihar reported 78 deaths each till September, he said.