Maoist shutdown hits road, rail traffic in Orissa

BHUBANESWAR - Road and rail services were hit in Orissa’s interiors Wednesday as Maoists enforced a 48-hour nationwide shutdown to protest against the killing of a top leader in Andhra Pradesh.

“Traffic was thin in some areas of Malkangiri and Rayagada districts as heavy vehicles went off the road. Government buses are not plying in Rayagada district,” a police official told IANS.

The movement of vehicles in parts of Kandhamal district was also disrupted as the rebels blocked roads by felling trees, he said.

However, life was unaffected in most parts of the state. There were no reports of untoward incidents, the official said.

In view of the shutdown, the railways have rescheduled or cut short the journey of some trains, mostly in Maoist affected areas.

The Koraput-Bhubaneswar Hirakhand Express scheduled to leave Koraput Wednesday will run from Rayagada to Bhubaneswar and will be cancelled between Rayagada and Koraput, a railway statement said.

The Puri-New Delhi Neelachal Express will be halted at Kharagpur in West Bengal and will stay put there till 5 a.m. Thursday.

Maoists are active in more than half of Orissa. The districts which are worst hit include Malkangiri, Rayagada and Gajapati in the south and Deogarh and Sambalpur in the west.

Maoists called the strike Wednesday and Thursday to protest the killing of their top leader Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad in an alleged shootout July 2 in Andhra Pradesh.

The rebels claim that police killed Azad in a staged gunfight after arresting him in Nagpur.