Maoists blow up road in Orissa

LAXMIPUR - Suspected Maoists blew up a road near Laxmipur in Orissa’s Koraput District on Thursday.

The ultras used landmines to cause extensive damage to the main road as a mark of their protest against the Operation Green Hunt.

Though no casualty was reported, the explosion created a crater measuring over five feet on the road, disrupting vehicular traffic.

“I was transporting sand. We came to know about the blast when we were about two kilometres away from the Laxmipur Ghati. A bus managed to cross the blast site. We thought our truck would also pass through but we got struck. We are facing lots of problems,” said Hemant, a truck driver.

The weeklong economic blockade by the Andhra-Orissa Border Committee of the Maoists has upset routine life in Koraput District.

The rebels had called for a shutdown of all economic activities in the region on April 24.

The police personnel in Koraput have initiated all preventive measures to check the menace posed by the Maoists.

A thorough investigation drive is being carried out to nab the ultras in hiding.

Earlier this month, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram described the Maoists as anti-poor and anti-development.

He had said the Maoists have targeted all instruments of development.

In 2009 alone, Maoists have demolished 71 school buildings, 23 Panchayat Bhawans, two power plants. They also destroyed 67 telephone exchanges or mobile towers.

Maoists also targeted railway property for 46 times and targeted specific industrial establishments at least 17 times in 2009. (ANI)