Odisha police headquarters under the Mohan Charan Majhi government deployed 15 senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officers to supervise 17 districts, an official notification dated June 6 said.Official data and police records indicate a 7.3% rise in overall cognisable crimes in Odisha in 2025, while murders rose by 3.6%. (Representative Photo/iStock)According to police, one director general (DG), eight additional director generals (ADGs) and six inspector general (IGs) level officers will begin district inspections from July, reviewing law and order, crime control, police functioning and other administrative concerns.They must submit mandatory reports within 15 days of completing inspections.Criminal Investigation Department (CID), DG Vinaytosh Mishra has been assigned Balasore and Bhadrak districts, while special operations ADG Sanjeeb Panda will oversee Koraput and Rayagada.The remaining officers have each been given one district. ADG Soumendra Priyadarshi will supervise Jagatsinghpur, railway-coastal security ADG Arun Bothra is responsible for Angul, and law and order ADG Sanjay Kumar will look after Sambalpur. Nayagarh is assigned to special security force ADG Rajesh Kumar, Jaipur is under state police headquarters ADG Prateek Mohanty, Kalahandi is under HRPC ADG Jatindra Koel, and Balangir is under CAW & CW ADG S. Saini.Among IG-rank officers, S. Praveen Kumar has been assigned Kandhamal, Deepak Kumar to Malkangiri, Gajabhie Satish Kumar Ishwardas go Dhenkanal, Anup Kumar Sahu to Puri, Avinash Kumar to Mayurbhanj and Sarthak Sarangi to Kendrapada.Last month, the state government reshuffled superintendents of police in nine districts, transferring senior officers amid increasing political and public scrutiny over police effectiveness.Also Read:Odisha woman’s body dug out 26 days after she was killed by her boyfriendThe deployment follows a period of heightened public anxiety over violent crimes and policing failures.Official data and police records indicate a 7.3% rise in overall cognisable crimes in Odisha in 2025, while murders rose by 3.6%.A government White Paper tabled in the assembly acknowledged the increase, though opposition parties claimed it reflected a wider collapse of the state’s security machinery.Among the incidents that sparked outrage was the alleged rape and murder of a 10-year-old Class III girl in Chandbali block of Bhadrak district in December last year. The case triggered widespread protests, with angry residents demolishing the accused’s house and demanding immediate justice.In February 2026, a 23-year-old woman was allegedly raped twice-- first by her boyfriend and later by another man-- before being pushed to death.Communal tensions also persisted. The state government acknowledged 54 incidents of communal violence and seven cases of mob lynching since mid-2024.Last month, Majhi chaired a high-level review meeting following incidents including the killing of a mentally challenged man in Mayurbhanj and an attack on a government railway police constable near Bhubaneswar. During the meeting, he reportedly directed police to “instill fear among criminals” through coordinated enforcement measures.The opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD) said that the deployment of senior IPS officers amounts to an implicit admission by the government that law and order has deteriorated. “Odisha has witnessed 10 custodial deaths in the last 17 months. The decision itself shows the police administration is not functioning properly,” the party alleged.BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty accused police stations of functioning “like offices of the ruling party” and alleged that illegal mining continued under political patronage.He also claimed that police personnel increasingly came under attack from criminal syndicates, citing the recent killing of a police employee allegedly by the sand mafia in Cuttack.“The supervision of senior police officers must lead to improvement in policing and public order. Otherwise, this will be seen as yet another eyewash,” Mohanty said.However, BJP MLA Babu Singh said, “Their (the opposition) objective is to score likes and shares in social media. But their actions are spreading fear among citizens. Under the Majhi government, offenders are being arrested within 24–48 hours, unlike the previous regime,” he said.