Southern Odisha put on high alert

MALKANGIRI: Following the killing of top Maoist leader Mallojula Koteswara Rao alias Kishenji in an encounter with the police in West Bengal on Thursday, police have sounded a high alert in southern Odisha fearing reprisal. All police stations in the border areas have been put on alert, while special police forces have intensified combing in the border areas as a precautionary measure against possible Maoist attack. Kishenji’s younger brother Venugopala Rao is a central committee member of the CPI(Maoist) and is reportedly active in the Andhra-Orissa border area. Sources said police are on tenterhooks as the slain Maoist leader was a frequent visitor to the Andhra-Odisha border east division. The police have been asked to be on alert in Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Rayagada, Koraput and Gajapati districts. These districts reported heightened Maoist activity in the recent past. Additional security forces have been mobilised in the districts and vehicles are being checked at entry and exit points of all the border areas.Buses to Jharkhand SuspendedRourkela: Inter-state bus services from Rourkela to Jharkhand were suspended on Saturday with reports of Maoists observing a two-day bandh making rounds. Amid contradictory reports that the CPI (Maoist) outfit has given a bandh call in  West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha to protest the encounter killing of Kishenji, the bus operators at Rourkela decided to suspend services for two days. However, sources said the shutdown is only effective in West Bengal where Kishenji was killed.