Bhubaneswar: Normal life in five southern districts was hit in a dawn-to-dusk bandh called Saturday by Maoists, who allegedly killed a man in Kandhamal district and abducted a woman during the agitation.
The 12-hour bandh was called by the Bansadhara-Ghumusara-Nagabali division of the CPI (Maoist) demanding immediate arrest of culprits in the gang rape of a minor at Kunduli village in Koraput district, a stop to violence against tribal women and solution to the Mahanadi water row.
It affected life in Rayagada, Kandhamal, Kalahandi, Gajapati and Ganjam districts despite deployment of BSF, CRPF, SOG and general police in sensitive places to ensure peace, officials said.
During the bandh, government buses remained off the roads in the five districts, official sources said. Private transportation vehicles were in operation in urban centres, where, schools, colleges and shops remained open, they said.
The rebels blocked NH-59 with logs near Tagada bridge, Baliguda and Tumudibandh in Kandhamal district. Banners urging people to make the stir a success was put up by them at many places. PTI
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