Orissa, August 20: Armed Maoists today blew up in broad daylight at least three Orissa forest department office buildings at Tamada, located barely 20 to 35 km from here.
“After boarding a bus at Karuabahal, nearly 40 Maoist cadre blew up the forest range office at Tamada using powerful explosives. The employees were driven away before destroying the office,” Sudarsan Sethi, sub-divisional police officer, Bonai, said.
Maoists then reached Birida in Brahmanitaranga police station, about 20 km from here and destroyed the forest beat house there in a similar way.
Sethi said these were the first incidents in Sundargarh district where Maoists blew up forest department offices.
The police were yet to reach the spot fearing land-mines planted on the way by Maoists.
Meanwhile, Diptesh Patnaik, superintendent of police, Sundargarh, said the elite Special Operation Group (SOG) of police, CRPF and state police have been sent from here for combing operation.
The Maoists including three women cadre who had hijacked a Gurundia-bound bus, after asking its staff to alight, abandoned the vehicle at a nearby road before melting into the forest.
They took away a generator set and motorbike from the range office at Tamada, he said adding they did not harm the staff.
—Agencies