Barring stray incidents of violence, a 24-hour bandh called by the Maoists in five States on Thursday protesting the recent encounter in Malkangiri district remained incident-free in Odisha.
A sniffer dog was injured as a landmine exploded while diffusing it in Rayagada district.
As per reports, the Red rebels had planted two landmines near Hatamuniguda in Rayagada. Being informed, the Muniguda police with the sniffer dog rushed the spot to diffuse the explosives. However, when the dog detected the landmine, it exploded injuring the animal. Maoist posters were found pasted on trees near the spot.
Protesting the anti-Maoist operation near the Andhra Pradesh-Odisha border in cutoff Chitrokonda area, in which 30 Maoists were killed, the CPI(Maoist) Central Committee observed the bandh in five States, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha.
While bus service came to a grinding halt in Malkangiri, plying of Government-run buses in Koraput and Rayagada remained off. The decision was taken to avert any possible untoward incident, said Rayagada DTM Paresh Kumar Thatoi.
The situation was similar in Kandhamal district. The Maoists blocked the Baliguda-Muniguda route by dumping felled trees on the road near Kurtamgarh in G Udayagiri, sources said.
“Anti-Maoist camps have been asked to be extra alert while combing operations have been intensified in the district. A strict vigil has been kept on the movement of Maoists,” said Malkangiri SP Mitrabhanu Mohapatra, who is in the target of the Maoists since the encounter.
On October 24, 28 Maoists were killed in a gun battle with security forces which also left a Greyhounds commando dead in the cutoff areas of Chitrakonda in Malkangiri district. Two more Maoists were killed in an exchange of fire with security forces at Panasput forest in Malkangiri on October 27, leaving the ultras furious.