India - attacks of the people's war

Maoists call bandh to oppose ops against them
Bhubaneswar: Maoists have called a two-day bandh starting from Friday in Nuapada, Kalahandi and Malkangiri districts to protest against the proposed Operation Green Hunt against them. The protesting Maoists belong to the Mainpur-Nuapada divisional committee and have put up posters and banners announcing the bandh at some places in these districts. The ultras said they would strongly protest the proposed operation against them in the south-western part of the state.
The rebels also raised the issue of police excesses against innocent tribals in these districts. They have demanded issue of forest land to tribals in order to make them self-reliant. They have also called a bandh in Chhattisgarh to protest against anti-Maoist operations. They had issued an audio tape in this regard recently. Nuapada SP Pinak Mishra said the district police, along with CRPF, SOG and DVF personnel, have been deployed at strategic locations to keep an eye on the movement of Maoists. “We have issued an alert in all the camps to stay prepared for any face-off from the ultras. The security personnel have been advised to follow the standard operating procedure while moving in the sensitive areas,” he added.
Maoists torch contractor’s vehicles in Odisha
Suspected Maoists have torched an earthmoving vehicle and a tractor at a contractor’s camp in Melchamunda area of Odisha’s Bargarh district late on Thursday night. The Maoists have torched a JCB machine and a tractor belonging to P S Construction, a contractor engaged in construction of roads in the area. “They came in a group asked for petrol. We said told them that there was no petrol in the camp. Then they pierced the diesel tank and doused the vehicles with it and set them on fire before leaving the site,” said Sukant Chand, a worker of P S Construction who was in the camp at the time of the incident.
“They have not beaten up anybody nor have abused anybody. Their operation was over in 10 minutes. They left by this road, the one you can see. Now the situation is normal. Work has begun. They will be given all types of protection to carry on their work,” said Prakash Patra SDPO Padmapur. Notably, Maoists have called for a bandh in Nuapada, Malkangiri and Kalahandi districts and some parts of Chhattisgarh today opposing ‘Operation Greenhunt’. The bandh call was given by the Mainpur Nuapada Divisional Committee of the outlawed CPI (Maoist).
Odisha: BSF officer, jawan killed in Naxal attack
A BSF officer and a jawan were on Friday killed in a landmine blast carried out by Naxals when they were out on a bike patrol in the jungles of Koraput district of Odisha. The incident occurred around 1:00 PM when a team of about twenty Border Security Force personnel were returning from an operational task in Dandabari village of the said district on ten motorcycles and the first carrying the team commander and his jawan got trapped into the blast carried out by using a hidden bomb on the dirt track. The jawan driving the bike, constable S P Panda, was killed on the spot while pillion rider and commander of the squad Deputy Commandant Sunil Kumar Behra succumbed to his injuries later.
“The two men sustained fatal injuries from shrapnels and heavy explosives used in the IED cleverly hidden and planted under the road by Naxals. A big crater was created at the spot where the bike was blown off,” officials said. They said the bike was tossed high in the air due to the impact of the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast and the rest nine motorcycle-borne teams immediately took positions suspecting a gunfire from hiding Maoists. “However, the Naxals did not rain heavy gunfire on the patrol party and they escaped into the jungles after firing few shots. The BSF team was returning to its base in Ramagiri from Dandabari village after verifying reports of killing of a civilian by suspected Maoist cadres,” they said.
The patrol party led by Behra belonged to the 143rd battalion of the BSF deployed in Koraput for undertaking anti-Naxal operations. Officials said in order to escape getting trapped into IED and hidden explosive booby-traps in jungle tracks of Left Wing Extremism (LWE) areas, the troops very rarely use four-wheelers and rely on motorcycles for movement. This is a rare incident in the LWE theatre when bike-borne personnel of security forces were hit by a Naxal planted IED, the most potent weapon used by ultras to target forces in these areas. The BSF has constituted a Court of Inquiry into the incident even as additional forces have been deployed for sanitisation of the blast area and adjoining villages for similar IEDs and bombs.
Maoist Posters Found in Rayagada
RAYAGADA: Maoist posters and banners were found in three villages under Rayagada district on Thursday. In the posters put up at Kalyansinghpur and Hatamuniguda villages under Bissamcuttack and Dahikhal village in Muniguda block, the ultras called upon people to support their bandh call on Friday over farmer suicides. In the posters, they accused the BJP Government at the Centre of ‘dancing to the tunes’ of RSS and fuelling intolerance in the country.
They also accused the Rayagada Collector of working as an agent of Vedanta and police of oppressing the tribals in Niyamgiri hills. Demanding immediate release of Bari Pidikaka, a member of Niyamgiri Surakshya Samiti (NSS) who was arrested in October last year, they wrote that mental torture by police led Drika, a Dongria Kondh of Dhamanpanga village to commit suicide last year. Bari was arrested for allegedly raping a minor Dongria girl. Prior to his arrest, he was an active and influential member of the NSS that has been spearheading agitations against proposed mining at the Niyamgiri hills. Police and CRPF personnel have seized the banners and posters. Rayagada SP, K Siba Subramani said police along with other forces like CRPF, BSF, SOG and DVF are on high alert and combing operations have been intensified in the district to avert any untoward incident.