State Police Headquarters held a high-level video-conference review on the evening of October 7 under Director General of Police Vinaytosh Mishra to lock in law-and-order arrangements for the statewide bandh called by a political party the following day.
The meeting placed public safety, uninterrupted movement, and protection of government and private property at the centre of preparations.
Mishra instructed all district Superintendents of Police to pull real-time inputs from every police station and keep continuous watch on local conditions. Adequate force is to be deployed on state highways, national highways, railway stations and other sensitive points, backed by stepped-up patrolling and naka checking. Officers were told to map likely protest sites in advance, put preventive arrangements in place, and tighten intelligence flow so that trouble spots are covered before crowds gather.
Clear red lines were drawn: no violence, no vandalism, no forcible closure of shops or markets, and no obstruction of ordinary traffic or public movement. Anyone crossing those lines is to face immediate and firm legal action. Local police were also asked to stay in close touch with residents in sensitive pockets so that small incidents do not escalate.
The DGP stressed that peace and a secure environment must be maintained through coordinated action at every level. Senior officers who joined the conference included Additional DGP (SAP) Rajesh Kumar, DIG (Personnel) Yugal Kishore Kumar Banoth, DIG (Crime Branch) Madkar Sandeep Sampad, SP (Crime Branch) Vivekananda Sharma, AIGP (Law & Order) Prabhashankar Nayak, Additional DGP (Railways & Coastal Security) Arun Bothra, range IGs and DIGs, all district SPs, the DCPs of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, and the SRPs of Cuttack and Rourkela.
