The 24-hour bandh (general shutdown strike) called by Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) in Kandhamal District of Odisha on May 15, passed off peacefully without any untoward incident, reports The Hindu. Till evening, no untoward incident had been reported from any part of the District. Vehicular traffic remained normal and all business and Government establishments remained open across the District. The Kandhamal-Kalahandi-Boudh-Nayagarh (KKBN) division of the CPI-Maoist had given the bandh call to protest the killing of five Maoists in an encounter near Sudrukumpa in the District on May 13, 2018. On May 14, Maoists had cut down a tree to block the Barkhama-Sudra road near Baliguda and pasted some posters at the spot informing the public about the bandh. In these posters, the Maoists had threatened locals to refrain from taking up the posts of forest watchers claiming that they were being used as ‘Police informers’. They also opposed a proposal to establish Police camps in remote pockets.
Meanwhile, security has been beefed up in the bordering areas of Jeypore sub-division in Koraput District of Odisha following intelligence inputs on possibility of a Maoist strike, reports The New Indian Express. Five Maoists including three women armed cadres were shot dead in an encounter with Special Operation Group (SOG) and District Voluntary Force (DVF) on Andhra Pradesh-Odisha Border (AOB) under Padwa Police limits on May 8. As per intelligence inputs, the Maoists are planning to revenge the encounter and top-ranking cadres of Andhra Pradesh-Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee (AOBSZC) are camping in the forests bordering Nandapur and Lamtaput. This apart, there are reports on Maoists sneaking into Koraput-Malkangiri border areas. The Police administrations of Koraput, Malkangiri and Rayagada have sounded alert following the inputs and intensified combing and area domination exercise.