Amid stepped up Naxal activities and their boycott call for the December 1 assembly election in Chhattisgarh, the Election Commission has ordered deployment of choppers, night-vision devices and mine detectors in sensitive areas.
The commission will take all possible assistance from central security forces to ensure free and fair polls in Chhattisgarh since there is presence of banned outfits like the Maoist Communist Centre and People's War group in nearly 40 per cent of state's geographical area, state election office sources said.
The state's borders with Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh will be sealed before the polls to prevent influx of troublemakers, sources said.
Nearly 180 companies of para-military forces will be deployed in the state, including the 65 sensitive areas in the volatile tribal belt.
After Chief Election Commissioner J M Lyngdoh directed the chief secretary and the director general of police of the
state to visit the Naxalite-infested districts and draw an appropriate security plan, it was decided to use choppers for surveillance.
