Koraput: Even as the Koraput administration steps up its outreach efforts in Kotia ahead of the upcoming sarpanch elections in Andhra Pradesh, the district police have planned a series of community policing programmes to strengthen their connect with residents of the disputed region.The initiative aims to build confidence among tribal villagers, address their grievances and strengthen police-public relations through regular interaction and welfare activities.The move assumes significance in the wake of the recent MPTC and ZPTC elections conducted by Andhra Pradesh in the Kotia region, which witnessed a confrontation between police personnel of the two states. Odisha police had prevented their Andhra Pradesh counterparts from entering the disputed territory as part of their polling arrangements.“Community policing is key to strengthening police-public relations. We have planned a series of outreach programmes in Kotia to interact with villagers, understand their concerns and address their grievances. Our aim is to make people feel secure and build their confidence in the police. Such programmes will be organised regularly in the coming days,” Koraput SP Rohit Verma said.The programmes will focus on reaching out to villagers, understanding their problems and providing a platform for addressing local grievances, besides strengthening their sense of security, he said.The first such programme was recently organised at Upper Sembi village, where villagers underwent health check-ups and were provided medicines. Clothes and shawls were also distributed as part of the initiative.Police officials said more such programmes would be organised in different villages of Kotia in the coming days to ensure sustained engagement with the local population.The outreach drive comes against the backdrop of renewed tensions over the territorial dispute between Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. Ahead of the November 5 MPTC and ZPTC elections, Andhra Pradesh had initially planned to set up a polling booth at Neradivalsa. However, following objections from Odisha authorities and local representatives, the booth was shifted to Sariki on the Andhra Pradesh side of the border.The dispute centres on 21 of the 28 villages in Kotia gram panchayat, which Andhra Pradesh claims as its territory, while Odisha maintains that the entire panchayat falls within Koraput district. The participation of some Kotia residents in the recent Andhra Pradesh elections has once again brought the decades-old territorial dispute into focus.