Smooth conduct of 2014 Lok Sabha elections in the Naxal-affected areas of the district would be priority for the police in the coming days.
Superintendent of Police Vikram Jeet Duggal today said that the cadres of the banned Communist Patty of India (Maoist) had already started their anti-election campaign.
Pamphlets asking people to boycott the polls were being distributed in the Vizag Agency area of the district, and there were a few killings too, Duggal said, adding that therefore, ensuring peaceful elections was now the priority for security forces.
As many as 542 Naxals were known to be active in the district, he said.
Amid a tight police security, 70 per cent polling was recorded in Vizag Agency in the panchayat elections in July this year, with only a few incidents of violence, he pointed out.
Seven persons were killed by the Maoists in the district this year. 67 Naxals were arrested, 58 surrendered before the police and one was killed.
Security forces undertook a total of 293 combing operations in 2013, as against 153 in 2012.
