Phulbani: A youth lost his life after a landmine, suspected to have been planted by Red rebels, blasted near Sadingia-Kiamunda area under Phiringia police limits in Kandhamal district Wednesday.
The fatal mishap took place early in the morning. The deceased youth has been identified as Priyaranjan Kanhar who belonged to Kiamunda village in the district.
Sources said, the faction of outlawed CPI (Maoist) had put up a poster Tuesday and also torched two JCB machines engaged in construction works near the blast site.
“Apart from opposing development works in the region, the ultras had earlier warned people to boycott the three-tier rural polls across the State. They intend to establish their presence,” an official said.
Also read: Rourkela Assistant Collector arrested, assets over Rs 2 crore unearthed
“Kanhar had visited the area Wednesday morning when he came in contact with an IED (improvised explosive device). The anti-pressure landmine blasted leading to his untimely death,” the official added.
It is pertinent to mention here that ‘Dharitri’ journalist and an active member of Odisha Journalists’ Union (OJU) identified as Rohit Biswal was killed Saturday in a landmine blast at Madanpur Rampur area in Kalahandi. The landmine had allegedly been planted by Maoists.
Biswal was present near Karlakhunta Bridge in the district, where Maoists allegedly put up posters urging villagers to boycott the panchayat elections. The journo Biswal had gone there to cover the news and the landmine suddenly exploded killing him on the spot.
On receiving information, a team of bomb disposal squad and several police official had rushed to the spot and cordoned off the blast site.
Condolences had poured in from all quarters including Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik over the tragic death of a journalist in what is termed as the first instance in Odisha for a journalist being killed in Maoist violence. Patnaik announced Rs 13 lakh ex-gratia to be paid to the family of Biswal. Rs 9 lakh out of the total amount was to be paid by the State Police and Rs 4 lakh from the Journalists’ Welfare Fund.
PNN
