Gurupriya Bridge On Maoist Radar: Cops Sound High Alert In Chitrakonda

Malkangiri: High alert has been sounded in cut-off areas of Chitrakonda block in Odisha’s Malkangiri district following intelligence input that the outlawed CPI-Maoist outfit is planning to blow up Gurupriya bridge under construction.

Sources said the district police and the security personnel have been tipped off by the intelligence wing about movement of armed cadres of the banned outfit in the cut-off areas.

Acting on the information, the BSF personnel and the district police have stepped up 24-hour combing operation.

The 910 metre long bridge and 1200 metre approaching road on either side is being executed by Kolkata-based Royal Infraconstru Limited at an estimated cost of Rs 172 crore. The work began in 2014 with the deployment of Border Security Forces at both ends of the bridge.

The bridge will connect 151 villages with a population of about 30,000 spread over seven panchayats in the cut-off area to the mainland.

The security personnel will have a tactical advantage after completion of the bridge.

The foundation stone for the bridge was laid in 1982 by the then chief minister JB Patnaik and again by chief minister Naveen Patnaik in 2000.