Five civilians, including two women, two men and a child were killed in a crossfire between Maoists and security forces in the Malapanga forest near Mugudumaha in Kandhamal district late on Friday evening sparking tension in the locality.
The victims were coming from Kuttamagarh to their village Mugudumaha by an auto-rickshaw when the vehicle came in the line of firing that was on between the security personnel and the ultras in the dense forest.
The deceased were identified as Kukula Digal, former Naib Sarapanch of Parampanga panchayat, luta Digal, Timiri Mallick, Bringuili Mallick and Midialli Mallick.
Sources said the victims had gone to Kuttamagarh to lodge a complaint with the Government authorities there with regard of nonpayment of their MGNREGA wages.
Now, question was raised whether the security personnel adopted the standard operating procedure (SOP) by blocking the route before the gun battle. Earlier too, a couple was killed in a Maoists-security forces encounter in Kandhamal district while nine were killed in Kalahandi and one in Nuapada districts recently.
Terming the incident as unfortunate, Kamdhamal Superintendent of Police (SP) Pinak Mishra said police would conduct a comprehensive inquiry into the circumstances leading to the civilians’ killing, adding that the district administration was ready for any impartial inquiry as demanded by locals and others.
Protesting the killing of the innocent civilians, locals blocked the Gopalpur-Raipur NH-224 near Paramapanga demanding immediate withdrawal of CRPF personnel from the area and adequate compensation to the kin of the deceased. Vehicular traffic on the route was disrupted for some hours due to the protest.
The protestors demanded `50-lakh compensation to the family of each deceased.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik ordered a judicial inquiry into the incident and announced compensation of `5 lakh for the family of each deceased.
He also announced jobs for the kin of the deceased, besides directing the concerned authorities to include the bereaved families under the social security scheme of the State Government.
Earlier on Friday night, Maoists attacked a forest beat house in Baisipalli forest under Mahanadi wildlife division in Nayagarh district and torched a Forest Department jeep. In Nayagarh, it was the first incident of violence by the ultras since 2008 when a 300-strong group of ultras had laid seize to Nayagarh town and carried out simultaneous attacks on the town police station, district armoury and the Police Training School killing many security personnel.
Meanwhile, Opposition parties and rights activists decried the Kandhamal killing.
Demanding that the Government stop the killing of civilians in the name encounter, PCC president Prasad Harichandna asked the Chief Minister to take stringent action against the officials responsible for the tragedy.