Odisha government on Tuesday transferred Puri SP, A N Sinha, under fire from the Opposition and women's organisations for failing to register complaints in connection with the Pipili gangrape case.
According to media reports, abducted Biju Janata Dal Member of Legislative Assembly Jhina Hikaka will be released on Thursday in Koraput district of Odisha at 10 am. Reports say that the decision was taken at a Maoist 'people's court'. The Naxals have also asked Hikaka to 'resign'.
Maoists on Thursday produced abducted ruling Biju Janata Dal MLA Jhina Hikaka before a people's court to decide his fate, a day after the Odisha government said it would withdraw cases against 13 prisoners in exchange for freedom of the tribal legislator.
In the wake of two back-to-back abductions in Odisha, a complete ban has been imposed on the entry of foreign nationals and tourists into the Maoist-hit Koraput district.
The Odisha government is examining the demands made by abductors of ruling Biju Janata Dal MLA Jhina Hikakaka, which includes release of jailed ultras, amid indication that talks with Maoist mediators for release of the second Italian will soon yield positive results.
Maoists on Saturday abducted a Member of Legislative Assembly from the Biju Janata Dal while he was returning home from Koraput district, leading to suspension of negotiations between the authorities and ultras for the release of two Italian nationals taken hostage by the rebels ten days ago.
The Maoists holding ruling Biju Janata Dal Member of Legislative Assembly Jhina Hikaka hostage on Sunday extended the deadline for the fulfillment of their demands till April 18. In a message, a leader of Maoists' Andhra Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee set a new deadline of 5 pm on April 18 for the release of 29 rebels, said Nihar Ranjan Patnaik, a Koraput-based lawyer who fights cases for Maoists.
The incident occurred due to "signal overshooting" as both the trains started moving in the same direction though signal was given for one to depart Jharsuguda Station, about 110 km, from Rourkela, GRP DSP at Jharsuguda, M K Mahato said.
At least 17 people were killed and 15 others injured when a truck carrying Dussehra revellers overturned near Dasamantapur in Orissa's Koraput district on Friday. Superintendent of Police Anoop Sahu said the accident occurred when nearly 40 people were returning home on Friday morning in the tipper after watching a jatra (folk theatre) in a nearby village. The victims, including women and children, were crushed beneath the vehicle after it overturned.
Maoists have released abducted Biju Janata Dal Member of Legislative Assembly Jhina Hikaka on Thursday morning. The release comes after captivity of over a month. Media reports said that Hikaka was released at an undisclosed location into the custody of his wife, and Nihar Ranjan Patnaik, a lawyer.
Intensifying efforts for the release of the abducted Malkangiri Collector R V Krishna, two Maoist-chosen mediators on Thursday left for Koraput for talks with the rebels even as the Orissa government said it is hopeful of some positive developments soon.
Maoist-chosen mediators discussed certain key demands of the rebels with hardcore Naxal leader Ganti Prasadam in Bhubaneswar on Monday, as negotiations for the release of the abducted Malkangiri district collector and a junior engineer reached a crucial stage.
Top HAL sources say the AMCA, which is being developed as the IAF's next-generation stealth fighter, is slated to be assembled at HAL Nashik.
Driven out of their homes by a Maoist-back outfit and ignored by the state government, several Dalits from Orissa's Koraput district on Tuesday demanded immediate rehabilitation or permission for self-immolation. Representatives of the group, who launched a sit-in and hunger strike in Bhubneswar, met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. The chief minister was told that nearly 400 families of Narayanpatna and Bandhugaon areas have lost everything.
During the pendency of suit filed by Odisha, the top court had on December 2, 1968 directed both the states to maintain status quo till the disposal of suit and said, "there shall be no further ingress or egress on the territories in dispute, on the part of either party".
At least 26 people were injured, some of them seriously, when Koraput-Rourkela Express collided with a goods train at Sikir railway station in Orissa's Bolangir district in the wee hours on Wednesday, the police said.
Maoists disrupted several communication links in Orissa on Monday by torching government buses and triggering landmine blasts to destroy mobile towers, besides damaging a forest beat house, prior to their 12-hour shutdown in the state's southern districts.As a result of their disruptive activities, the movement of buses and telephone communication were affected in Gajapati, Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada and Ganjam districts.
In a fierce gun battle with Maoists on Sunday, securitymen were believed to have inflicted some casualties in the rebel side in Orissa's Koraput district, police said.
Ten security personnel were killed and as many injured in a landmine explosion triggered by Maoists in Orissa's Koraput district on Sunday, the police said.
Rail and road services were disrupted in some parts of Orissa as a two-day Bharat Bandh called by the Maoists in protest against the death of a top Naxal leader began on Wednesday.
At least two civilians, including a woman, were killed and eight security personnel injured in a landmine blast triggered by Maoists in Orissa's Koraput district on Saturday. "Two civilians were killed and eight members of the elite anti-Naxalite Special Operation Group injured in the landmine blast incident today morning," said Deputy Inspector General (southern range) Sanjeev Panda. The incident took place at Jugipalur area today morning.
In the wake of the Maoist attack on a Mumbai-bound train in West Midnapore district, the South Eastern Railway cancelled the Howrah-Barbil Janshatabdi Express and Howrah-Jamshedpur Ispat Express on Friday.
At least six Maoists were killed in a fierce gun-battle with security forces in Orissa's Koraput district on Sunday, said the police. "On the basis of indications from the encounter site, at least six Maoists have been killed," said senior police officers engaged in the anti-Maoist operation in a forest in Podapadar area in Narayanpatna.Earlier reports indicated that at least 10 Maoists had been killed in the encounter.
They want the authorities to fulfill their security-related demands which include no duty in the mining area after sunset, increasing the number of security personnel and their presence in the workers' colony and in buses used to transport the workers. The operations have halted following a Naxalite attack on the site in which 10 CISF jawans and five Naxalites were killed. About 100 Nalco workers were held hostage by the ultras for over eight hours.
The Maoists have already blown up as many as 16 telecom towers in different places of these districts, thereby disrupting the mobile telephone services.
According to an official, two fresh deaths have been reported in Cuttack and Khurda districts of the state.
A woman Maoist was killed and three security personnel injured in an exchange of fire between the two sides at Pallur in Koraput district in Orissa on Thursday morning. The exchange of fire took place when jawans of the Special Operation Group, the state's elite anti-Naxal force, were involved in a combing operation in Pallur area under Narayan Patna police station, said Y J Rao, sub-divisional police officer of Narayana Patna.
Even as aluminium maker Nalco plans to restart operations at its Panchpatmali bauxite mines in Koraput district on Thursday, the employees stay too scared to go back to work.
The well-planned attack, apparently aimed at affecting the upcoming polls and looting weapons, took place shortly after 9.30 pm on Sunday when about 22 CISF personnel were inside a canteen at Asia's biggest bauxite mine. The heavily-armed Maoists, numbering about 200, including some women, looted the CISF armoury in the mine area which contained huge quantities of sophisticated arms and ammunition as well as explosives, police sources said.
The team, headed by joint director of National Institute of Communicable Diseases Dr R K Panda went to Semiliguda area to collect blood samples of the affected persons and those showing symptoms of the disease, official sources said.
They said the Maoist party in India failed to involve the masses and the leadership was not ready to adapt to changing times.
Public sector blue chip firm National Aluminium Company, the largest manufacturer and exporter of aluminium in the country, proposes to make a foray into wind power generation.
The depression, which was initially over west-central Bay of Bengal and adjoining areas, moved westward and intensified into a deep depression.
At least three Border Security Force personnel were killed and two injured when Naxals blew up their vehicle in an improvised explosive device blast in Odisha's Koraput district on Tuesday.
He also asked men to work towards securing for women their due place in society.
Dayanidhi Bisoi of Kakiriguma village in Koraput district, who was sentenced to death for killing his wife and daughter, will be executed.
Modi said the National Democratic Alliance government wouldn't have been able to do any development work in the country without the support of the people.
Over 2 lakh people living in and around the vulnerable coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha have been evacuated with Cyclone 'Hudhud' set to hit the two states no Sunday with winds gusting up to 195 kmph.
Three special teams have been formed to nab the juvenile pickpocket who allegedly attacked and injured a senior DRDO official with a razor blade after he was caught for stealing a cell phone in the crowded Charminar area, police said on Monday.
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