Maoists blow up school to protest Obama visit

BHUBANESWAR - Maoist guerrillas Monday blew up a newly constructed school building in Orissa’s Malkangiri district to protest US President Barack Obama’s India visit, police said. No one was injured.

Around 30-40 rebels blew up the double-storey school building at Gomphakunda village, some 55 km from the district headquarters of Malkangiri. No one was inside the building at the time of the attack.

The building was recently constructed. The rebels blasted it using landmines, inspector Debashis Mishra, in charge of the police station there, told IANS.

Maoist posters found from nearby areas indicated that they triggered the blast to protest Obama’s visit to India, he said.

The rebels have also felled trees in several places on the highway connecting Tanginiguda and Gobindapali village, affecting vehicular movement on the route, he ssaid.

Malkangiri district, over 600 km from Bhubaneswar, is considered a Maoist stronghold.