Bhubaneswar
The Orissa assembly was adjourned Saturday for two hours after the
opposition vociferously protested the Maoist attack on police
establishments in Nayagarh district that killed at least 14 people.
Speaker Maheswar Mohanty adjourned the assembly at 10.30 a.m. after
the Congress led opposition created a pandemonium, demanding the
resignation of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Opposition members alleged that the law and order situation in the
state had worsened under Patnaik, who is also the home minister.
Rajesh Kumar, the Nayagarh district police chief, told IANS that
more than 500 armed Maoists simultaneously attacked three police
stations, a government armoury, a police training centre, and some
police posts Friday night.
A group of rebels, including some women guerrillas, attacked the
district police headquarter at Nayagarh, about 85 km from here, as
well as a nearby armoury and police training centre at about 10.30
p.m.
Other groups of Maoists barged into police stations at nearby
Daspalla and Nuagaon towns, attacked policemen and looted weapons,
Kumar said.
While the Maoist virtually lay siege on Nayagarh town for more than
three hours, they continued their attack in other places till early
Saturday.
"They have looted a large quantity of arms and ammunitions during
their raids that continued for more than three hours," Kumar said.
He added that at least 14 people, including 13 policemen, were
killed during the shootout between policemen and Maoists. Four
people were injured; two of them are said to be critical.
The rebels had also sealed all the entry and exit points of the town
to prevent the movement of vehicles during their operation. They
even sealed the entry to the district police chief's residence.
The chief minister visited the affected area Saturday and announced
compensation of Rs.1 million each for the families of the policemen
who were killed by armed rebels and Rs.200,000 for the family of the
civilian who died in the crossfire.
He also announced that the government would bear the medical
expenses of all the injured.
A high alert has been sounded across the state and hundreds of armed
policemen as well as paramilitary forces have been sent to the
affected regions.
A home department official said the attack is suspected to be the
handiwork of Maoist leader Sabysachi Panda because he hails from
Nayagarh district.
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