Post News Network
Malkangiri/ Bhubaneswar, April 14: A high alert has been sounded in the state while Maoists abducted nine tribals, including a village head and a former block chairperson in Malkangiri district, police said Tuesday. They were abducted from two villages in Mathili block –five from Kirtanpalli village and two from nearby Barha — Monday night.
The alert follows an intensification of Maoist violence in the region in recent days.
Those abducted late Monday night included Trinath Bhumia, a former block chairman of Mathili. “It is suspected that a group of Maoists was involved in the incident. The nine persons were called out of their houses and taken away,” director general of police Sanjeev Marik told the media in the capital. “We are in constant touch with the Malkangiri SP and details are awaited,” he said.
“A police team has been sent to the villages. The police can confirm the incident only after the team reaches villages bordering Chhattisgarh,” said Malkangiri SP Mitrabhanu Mohapatra, adding the reported villages were located in a difficult terrain. A report reaching the district headquarters said a group of armed Maoists entered the villages after midnight and asked ward member of Kirtanpalli village to get people to have a discussion. Then they kidnapped the nine people at gun-point.
Panic gripped the area after the abduction. According to sources in the district police headquarters, efforts are on to launch a search operation in the area to trace the abducted villagers.
The state government Tuesday sounded a high-alert in all districts affected by Left Wing Extremist (LWE) activists following a sudden intensification of Maoist attacks in the region. The serial Naxal attacks in neighbouring Chhattisgarh districts had left at least five cops dead. “A High-alert has been issued for the police in Maoist-affected districts, especially in areas bordering Chhattisgarh,” said DGP Marik.
He said the police in the southern districts of the state have also been asked to remain more alert.
While security forces have been alerted after the Chhattisgarh incidents, SPs in Maoist-hit districts have been asked to keep a close watch on movements of suspicious persons, said Inspector General of Police (South West) YK Jethwa. Sources said combing operations and search in the long-route vehicles passing through the district have been intensified as part of anti-Maoist operations in the state.
With search operation is being carried out rigorously in the Maoist-infested districts of the neighboring state following violence in recent days, the police and other sources said CRPF, District Volunteer Forces (DVF) and BSF and police have been asked to keep a close watch on the Maoist movement in the affected districts of Orissa.
“Combing operation has been intensified in Kandhamal district following the incidents in Chhattisgarh. We are keeping a strict vigil on the movement of suspicious people in vulnerable areas,” said Kandhamal SP KV Singh.