On the last day of their “Jail Bandi Saptah” on Saturday, the Naxalites created a ruckus in various parts of Bastar division. They had also called for a Dandkaranya bandh. Roads were blocked by digging and felling trees. The Naxalites also distributed a huge quantity of literature like brochures. The weekly market at Durgukondal in Kanker district also remained closed.
On Friday night, the Naxalites dug on the road about 1.5 km ahead of Kukanar police station and threw their pamphlets around. Near Chingavaram Korar in Sukma district, the Naxalites dug the National Highway 30 at various places and blocked the road. Vehicles were piling up at both sides of the road, creating huge traffic problems. After 10 in the morning, the road was cleared. The SP of Sukma, Abhishek Shandilya, said that transportation on the national highway was affected for about three hours from 7 am till 10 am.
In the Kirandul area of Dantewada district also, the Naxalites felled a large number of trees on the road and tried to block the road last night. They scrawled graffiti along the roads calling for boycott of the election. On the Bhanupratappur-Pakhanjur Road in Kanker district also the Naxalites created a ruckus and blocked the road. Transportation on the roads has totally been held up.
The call for bandh had widespread impact in Narayanpur district. No vehicle from outside, including passenger buses from Jagdalpur, Antagarh and Orchha, reached Narayanpur. Movement of passengers was totally halted. The Naxalites threw a large number of pamphlets in the interior areas of Bijapur district. Their brochures and banners were seen in Bhopalpattanam area. Vehicular traffic was stopped. Though there was no report of any incident, the effect of the bandh could be seen in the district.
Naxalites on Friday night uprooted railway tracks between Kamlur and Dantewada in Dantewada district because of which eight bogies of a goods train derailed. About 30 metres of rail tracks were damaged. As the place of the incident was thickly forested and Naxal-infested, police, RPF and railway officers could not reach there on time. Due to the incident, rail traffic from Jagdalpur to Kirandul was affected. Because of the Naxalite bandh, the railway administration had declared high alert on KK line of Bastar.