Maoists blow up Orissa village council building

BHUBANESWAR - Maoist guerrillas early Sunday blew up a panchayat (council) office building in Orissa’s Malkangiri district, police said.

About 30-40 rebels came to Kankurukunda village at about 1 a.m. and blasted the building using explosives, a senior police officer told IANS.

No body was inside the office when the blast took place, he said.

The rebels blew up the building, constructed by the government two years ago, as they suspected that it was being used by paramilitary forces engaged in anti-Maoist operations, the officer said.

This was the third attack by Maoists on panchayat buildings in the district. Earlier this month, the rebels blew up a panchayat office at Bodigata village and a panchayat warehouse at Talrai village.

Maoists are active in more than half of the state’s 30 districts. Malkangiri district, considered as a Maoist stronghold, is about 620 km from Bhubaneswar.