The Maoist attack near Dantewada in Chhattisgarh is the fifth major strike by Naxals in the country this year.
In a series of attacks, Maoists gunned down one person and blew up two government school buildings in Orissa's Malkangiri district early Sunday, the police said.
"The boat has been traced deep inside the Balimela reservoir in Malkangiri district," said deputy inspector general, South-Western range, Sanjeev Panda, adding that the body of two missing commandoes has been extracted from the waters.
The two-week-long search operation in the Balimela reservoir in Malkangiri district of Orissa has been completed by the search teams from the Andhra Pradesh police and Indian Navy as all the 38 bodies of Greyhound commandos and police personnel were found.
The blast took place at MV-126 under Kalimela police station area, about 50 km from Malkangiri, when jawans of Orissa's Special Operation Group and police were travelling in a van to MPV-41, Director General of Police Gopal Chandra Nanda said.
The Andhra Pradesh police has sounded a high alert on its border along with Orissa after the latest attack by the rebels of Communist Party of India - Maoists in Malkangiri district of Orissa, in which 21 policemen were reportedly killed. A senior police official in Hyderabad said that all the sensitive police stations in the tribal and forest areas adjoining Orissa have been put on high alert and asked to maintain a tight vigil.
Five more bodies were recovered from the Machkund (Balimela) reservoir by the search teams and airlifted to Visakhapatnam for post-mortem. Akun Sabharwal, the district superintendent of police, Visakhapatnam, told the media at Chitrakund that so far 15 bodies have been found and another 21 bodies are believed to be stuck in the sunken vessel.
Leaflets had also been distributed in several villages containing the threat: "Those ignoring this directive will not be forgiven."
The ultras had planned to trigger explosions at the 360 MW Balimela hydel power plant, one of the major hydel projects in Orissa.
Two tribals were killed by Maoists on suspicion of being police informers in Malkangiri, even as security forces launched an operation against the rebels at Odisha-Andhra Pradesh border.
The victims included five policemen, among whom were officer-in-charge Sada Hantal and assistant sub-inspector Silamani Mallick of the Kalimela police station, sources said.
In a major breakthrough, Odisha Police have arrested two suspected Maoists who were accused of being involved in the May 25 deadly attack on a Congress convoy in Chhattisgarh.
Maoists shot dead two persons in Odisha's Malkangiri district suspecting them to be police informers even as a bandh was being observed by the ultras on Wednesday demanding withdrawal of security forces and halt to anti-naxal operations.
Around 150 cases involving that of murder, landmine blasts, abduction and attack on the police were pending against the couple in different police stations, police said.
Three Border Security Force jawans were killed and six were injured on Wednesday after a Maoist ambush on a BSF party near the Sukma-Malkangiri border in Chitrakonda, Odisha.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and demanded special category status for his state as well as other assistance from the Centre but remained evasive on allying with National Democratic Alliance.
Maoists have shot dead two persons, including a village panchayat ward member, two days after abducting them in Odisha's Malkangiri district, police said on Saturday.
A few hours after killing a man, Maoist ultras on Friday set a private bus on fire near Beheraguda in Odisha's Malkangiri district, police said.
Altogether 13 Maoist ultras including a woman were killed in an encounter with security forces inside a forest in Malkangiri district early on Saturday while another rebel was captured. The Maoist group that camped there was suspected to have been involved in the May 25 attack on a Congress convoy in Bastar district of Chhattisgarh that killed senior party leaders V C Shukla, Mahendra Karma and about 19 others.
2 senior commandos of Greyhounds were injured in the encounter that occurred during a routine combing operation.
As cyclone Hudhud weakened and moved to Chhattisgarh, Odisha government on Monday braced for relief and rehabilitation in the affected southern districts where its damaged houses and uprooted trees even as heavy rainfall was expected to lash these areas.
It is not uncommon to see patients in Odisha being carried to hospitals on cots for miles. Recently, this picture was reversed when a doctor carried a pregnant woman to hospital on a cot for 12 km.
Despite major setbacks, the Maoists' ability to inflict damage on the State and maintain its position as the saviour of the tribals will keep them relevant, says Bibhu Prasad Routray.
Cyclone Hudhud is set to intensify further into a very severe cyclonic storm in the next 12 hours before it makes landfall on October 12.
This time however, the poll panel did not share the overall polling percentage at its briefing.
As Cyclone Hudhud is closing in on the Andhra Pradesh coastline and is expected to make a landfall near Visakhapatnam by Sunday afternoon, about 1.11 lakh people in five coastal districts have been shifted to safer places.
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