Lanjigarh: Developmental work has gone haywire in Trilochanpur panchayat in this block of Kalahandi district as the inhabitants live under the grip of Maoist menace, a report said.
The panchayat having 25 villages is situated in a remote corner of the block inside the Niyamgiri forests. The villagers live under the constant fear of Maoists as the latter have completely taken control of the panchayat.
The fear of the ultras is so apparent that over 12 families recently fled their houses in Goudathuaguda and Trilochanpur villages while 15-20 families were learnt to be preparing to shift elsewhere.
The fear of the ultras had also prevented government officials and the police from visiting the panchayat and taking up developmental works. The residents recall the time when they had their tryst with ultras on the night of July 27, 2011.
The villagers were asleep when the left wing extremists stormed the village and brutally killed a resident Ajit Pattnaik. Since then, the panchayat has been caught in the vicious circle of Maoist terror.
The ultras have laid siege to the area and could be often seen moving around and conducting secret meetings in the villages. This has prevented the officials from taking up developmental works in the area. All the government schemes like Janani Surakhya Yojana, Mamata Yojana and Vasundhara Yojana have miserably failed here.
This has come at a time when the government is spending crores of rupees for anti-insurgency activities. The CRPF camps at Bijepur, Lanjigarh, Sikerkupa and Biswantahpur have virtually become nonexistent as the villagers alleged there is a clear lack of combing operation in the area.
This has emboldened the ultras as they carry out bloodshed and destruction with impunity.
In a recent incident, the Maoists kidnapped three persons in Trilochanpur including a Gramarakhi and thrashed them before releasing them after three days April 19. Later, members of 12 families in Trilochanpur and Goudathuaguda villages fled their homes because of Maoist threat.
Among them, the families of Anant Lohra, Gajendra Goud, Dulubag Naik and Gariamani Naik have taken shelter in their relatives’ houses in Kalyansinghpur and Muniguda of neighbouring Rayagada district.
The villagers since then are living under constant fear of Maoist attack as the police never visit the spot in the event of any incident.
