Orissa on alert after Naxal attack

The Hindu outfits have given a call for 12-hour Orissa bandh on Monday (August 25), while a shut down was observed today in Angul.

The situation in the tribal dominated Kandhmal district “is tense but under control” after the killing of VHP activists last night by unidentified attackers, Kandhmal District Collector Krishan Kumar told. Prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC were clamped in the district to prevent any flare up, he said.
       
A small thatched structure used as a prayer house was set afire by unidentified persons late last night at Tentulijhari in Sundergarh district, Inspector General of Police (Western Range) Pranabindu Acharya said.
 
Nobody was injured in the incident, he said adding, efforts are on to nab the miscreants  “We are keeping a close watch since the incident took place,” Kumar said.
     
A high alert was sounded across the state and additional security forces sought from the Centre. “The Centre has also been asked to send additional forces and extend the stay of seven CRPF companies deployed in the district since the riots that erupted during Christmas last year,” official sources said.
      
Roads leading to Tumudibandh were sealed, police sources said adding that post-mortem on the bodies was performed and efforts were being made to take them for last rites to Chakapada where Swami Laxmanananda’s main ashram is located.
      
Laxmananda, who had been working in Kandhmal for about 35 years, was leading an agitation against religious conversion in the district and elsewhere and had been at the centre of controversy since the December riots.

Over 30 heavily armed attackers struck at the ashram school for girls when its inmates were celebrating Janmashtami and unleashed indiscriminate firing, killing the five, police said adding the assailants used sophisticated weapons including AK-47 and revolvers besides hurling bombs.
     
Some parts of the ashram were damaged in the meticulously planned attack which was marked by precision and speed, police said.
     
While a note found from the site claimed that the attack was carried out by Maoists, police were getting it examined to identify the killers, DIG of police, southern range, R P Koche said.

(With inputs from PTI)