Kranti Divas: Maoist Bandh partial in Sundargarh

ROURKELA/MALKANGIRI: The one-day shutdown called by the Maoists to remember one of their top leaders, Kranti Randev, on Kranti Divas passed off without any violence.The bandh called to protest the ongoing anti-insurgency operation partially affected life in the border pockets of Sundargarh district while it evoked tepid response in Malkangiri district. All Jharkhand-bound buses originating from Rourkela stayed off the road. Short distance bus services to the bordering Bhalulata also remained suspended. Train services on the single track of Rourkela-Barsuan route came to a grinding halt after sunset. The Kalta iron ore mines of  SAIL at the Maoist-affected Koida block remained closed for the day. Mining operation and mineral transportation of private operators at Koida also got paralysed, while there was little or no impact at the adjacent Tensa and Barsuan mines of SAIL. The Chhota Nagpur Zonal Committee (CNZC) of the outfit alleged that the security forces were inflicting atrocities on the innocent inhabitants of forested villages during the combing operation. It demanded immediate stop to the security exercise to protect the tribal villagers. Normalcy is likely to be restored on Wednesday morning though the bandh ends on Tuesday midnight. The joint forces of Orissa and Jharkhand detected a Maoist camp at Tirilposhi in adjacent Jharkhand in Saranda forest on the fifth day of the area dominationoperation. The forces seized over 230 electrical detonators, around 100 boosters, huge amount of electrical wires, cans of liquid potassium nitrate and modern visual and communication gadgets like mobile phones and walky-talky. Nearly, half-a-dozen suspected Maoists were detained by the security forces, but there was no immediate official confirmation.Malkangiri SP Anirudha Singh said shops and business establishments remained open even in the interior pockets of Malkangiri and Koraput districts. However buses went off the roads in some Maoist-hit areas of Motu, Padia, MV-79 and Kalimela of Malkangiri district and Narayanpatna, Bandhugaon and Boipariguda of Koraput.