Maoists blow up 2 forest offices

ROURKELA: Maoists blew up two forest offices and took away a bus after asking passengers to get off with their luggage in Sundergarh district on
Thursday. Panic gripped the entire area as the incidents took place in broad daylight and in the presence of hundreds of locals.

According to sources, around 3.30 pm, when a bus was on its way to Gurundia from Rourkela with about 50 passengers, a group of about 30 armed Maoists intercepted it near Karua Bahal village and reportedly asked all passengers to get off with their luggage. Then, they asked the driver to take them to the Tamda forest beat house, about 10 km away.

As it was located on the road, hundreds of locals were present there. Before executing their plan, the Maoists collected the cellphones from the locals. They then entered the beat house and asked the guard to leave. Then, they planted a few landmines and blew up the beat house with a remote. The Maoists also blew up four quarters on the beat house campus. Before leaving, they returned the cellphones.

From Tamda, the Maoists headed for the Birda forester's office, about five kilometre away. As nobody was present there, they took no time in blowing up the place. After that, the Maoists boarded the bus and left, abandoning it deep inside the forest. They also released the driver of the bus, which was under the control of the Maoists for nearly two hours.