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MALKANGIRI/RAYAGADA/GAJAPATI ( Orissa) : The shut down call given by the outlawed CPI(Maoists) protesting against the killing of its senior leader Azad, is going on peacefully in all leftwing insurgency hit areas of Orissa, police said on Wednesday.
“We have no reports of major violence till now,” Inspector General of Police (Operations) Sanjiv Marik said.
A high alert has been sounded in border districts of Orissa in the wake of bandh. The police in Malkangiri, Rayagada, Gajapati and Koraput were put on high alert as the slain Maoist leader was popular in those areas, said a senior home department official.
"Security personnel in these districts have been asked to keep a tab on sensitive areas during the two-day shutdown by Maoists," the official said.
"All the vehicles entering and leaving Gajapati district were being checked properly," sources said.
Police said the ultras set fire to a mobile tower at Chandrapur in Rayagada district last night as a retaliation to the killing of Azad, police said.
Meanwhile, worried over continuous massacre in neighbouring Chhattisgarh, Orissa Government has asked security men manning leftwing insurgency hit areas to strictly maintain Standard Operation Procedure (SOP) during anti-Maoists operations.
The Outlawed CPI (Maoists) has called for a shut down from Wednesday protesting killing of its senior leader Azad.
“Senior officials have been asked to ensure that the personnel face no difficulties in force movement during the bandh," said State Director General of Police, MM Praharaj.
Though Praharaj refused to divulge details of plan. Taking past experiences into account where Maoists had ambushed security personnel in Malkangiri and Koraput districts in southern region, the Orissa police had cautioned
the officers to avoid such situation.
Though about 80 police stations and armouries in Maoist-hit districts were fortified, there were some places which could pose danger to the security personnel.
Special instructions had also been issued to the five battalions of BSF and four battalions of CRPF personnel who had been deployed in Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Gajapati, Sundargarh, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj districts.
A senior police officer said the ultras might not come out of their jungle hideouts now in view of the onset of monsoon, but they could change strategy to hit the security force to make their bandh successful.
