Maoists’ Bharat Bandh Disrupts Life In Three South Odisha Districts

Phulbani/Malkangiri/Bhawanipatna: Life came to a grinding halt in three South Odisha districts of Kandhamal, Malkangiri and Kalahandi districts following a 12-hour Bharat Bandh by the outlawed CPI (Maoist) on Thursday.

Vehicular movement was disrupted in Kandhamal district with Baliguda-Daringbadi Road being blocked by felling trees at Pakaladami Ghat. The ultras also blocked Kotagada-Muniguda Road at Satanalia and put up posters opposing the Green Hunt operation being jointly carried out by Central para-military forces, district voluntary force (DVF) and Special Operation Group (SOG).

Similar blockade was seen on Phikarakupa-Dhepaguda road in Kalahandi district, while no government bus plied in Malkangiri.

Informing the media, Malkangiri SP, Abhishek Meena said a joint combing operation by the BSF, SOG and DVF has been intensified in the remote and sensitive areas in the district.

Besides, the district police are in touch with their counterparts in Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to share the intelligence network and track the movement of the Maoists along the border areas, he added.

Notably, the Maoists had observed the Protest Week from January 25 in which they had conducted several meetings with the villagers in the remote areas of Maoist-prone districts of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand. The Left-wing extremists have given the Bharat Bandh call on the last day of the Protest Week on Thursday.