By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, November 17, 2021: The police of Odisha and Chhattisgarh have decided to work in a coordinated manner to combat Left wing extremism and check drug trafficking.

An agreement in this regard was arrived at between the police of the two states during a meeting of top officers, including the Directors General of Police (DGPs) on Tuesday, official sources said.

Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officials were also present at the meeting.

“On Left-wing extremism (LWE) matter, discussions were held with ADG CRPF, IG CRPF and other officers,” said a statement by the Odisha Police headquarters.

The coordination meeting was organised to strengthen the joint effort to counter LWE and check drug trafficking, it said.

The two DGPs decided to augment cooperation between the Chhattisgarh Police and the Odisha Police. On the LWE matter, the additional director general of police (operation), Chhattisgarh and the inspector general (operation), Odisha would act as nodal officers, the statement said.

Deputy inspector general of Special Task Force (STF) of Odisha and the DIG of Criminal Investigation Department-Crime Branch, Chhattisgarh will be nodal officers for cases related to smuggling of narcotic drugs, it said.

Other modalities for the joint operations and further cooperation were also finalised at the meeting, it added.