A senior Indian Forest Service officer Surendra Prasad Mohapatra, who is in the United States on a training course, has been taken into police custody at Pennsylvania, according to information received by the Odisha government in Bhubaneshwar on Thursday.
The Odisha police are searching for another man from the same country, a self-proclaimed anti-Ukraine war activist, who has gone missing.
They said the incident occurred around 4 am when a 150-metre-long portion of the four-and-a-half-kilometer-long tunnel collapsed.
Though two days have passed since the Maoists abducted ruling Biju Janata Dal member of Legislative Jhina Hikaka, the Odisha government is yet to receive any information on the whereabouts of the young tribal legislator.
Even as talks were in progress for the release of two Italians abducted by Maoists in Odisha, the rebels shot dead a sub-inspector in Malkangiri district on Thursday, the police said.
Four officers of the Border Security Force, including a Commanding Officer, were on Friday killed in an IED blast by suspected Maoists in Malkangiri district of Odisha. The BSF squad was targeted at around 1 pm in the Janbai area of the district, under Chitragonda police station area, 465 kms from Bhubaneswar. Odisha's jungles are a hotbed for Naxal activities as it touches the borders of two other states -- Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh -- making it a corridor for Maoists.
Expressing displeasure over the manner in which the organisers handled the second T20 cricket match between India and South Africa at Cuttack, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has ordered a probe into the incident by the home secretary.
Five Maoists were killed in a fierce encounter with security forces in a forest on the border of Odisha's Ganjam and Gajapati districts on Wednesday.At least two security personnel were also injured in the exchange of fire in Bhaliagada jungle under Mohana police station area, said the police.
A 16-year-old girl was allegedly gangraped by three youths in this Odisha district after which she attempted suicide by setting herself on fire, police said on Monday.
Two suspected operatives of Al Qaeda have been arrested in New Delhi and Odisha and Delhi Police on Wednesday claimed to have busted a module of the terror group's Indian sub-continent wing operating out of the country.
Two Italian tourists have been abducted by Maoists from the tribal-dominated Kandhamal-Ganjam border area in Odisha, said the police on Sunday, which is monitoring the situation closely.
Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat has thrice been honoured by the International Association of Chiefs of Police for his unusual efforts in community policing and welfare. The only Indian police officer to be honoured thus.
Rejecting the Centre's charge that the Odisha government has failed to contain left-wing extremism, the state's director general of police on Tuesday claimed that Naxal violence had declined in 2011 compared to the year before. "The Naxal situation in most parts of the state had been controlled while it was a cause of concern for the state government in areas bordering Chattishgarh," Director General of Police Manmohan Praharaj wrote to Union Home Secretary R K Singh.
Around 100 people including policemen were injured, as Congress workers protesting against the Biju Janata Dal government on Thursday tried to gherao the Odisha Assembly.
Director General of Police Prakash Mishra claimed that nearly 60 policemen were injured in stone-throwing and violence by the rallyists but was unable to give the exact number of demonstrators who sustained injuries
A tribal farmer was shot dead by Maoists, who suspected him of being a police informer, in Odisha's Malkangiri district on Monday night, said the police. Nearly 15 Maoists reached the house of farmer and small time contractor Bhima Sisha, 35, of Sishaput under Mudulipada police station in the Maoist-prone district on Monday night.
A 10-member Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team on Monday visited the Balasore train accident site and began its probe into the triple train crash, a Railway official said.
Jaymal Singh Negi mentioned that his brother informed him about the trapped men engaging in yoga and exercises inside the tunnel.
The Supreme Court on Monday took suo motu cognisance of a horrific incident of chopping off the right hands of two migrant labourers from Odisha by a contractor from Andhra Pradesh in December last year.
At least 115 child rape cases have been registered in 59 days, in January and February this year, in Odisha, the state assembly was informed on Thursday.
"An alert has been sounded in the district after the arrests yesterday in Delhi and Odisha," said an official.
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.
More than a dozen trains were stopped at several railway stations, including Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Khurda Road, Berhampur and Sambalpur as bandh supporters staged dharna on the tracks, a spokesman of East Coast Railway (ECoR) said.
Unfazed by protests from various quarters, including a ruling BJD MP, the state government gave its nod to the Odisha Cricket Association to host the ICC women's World Cup matches involving players from Pakistan at Cuttack.
Odisha's Law and Urban Development Minister Raghunath Mohanty resigned on Friday on "moral grounds" after his daughter-in-law filed a dowry case against him and his family members.
Commissioner of Police R P Sharma said they had come to stay in the hotel at about 9 pm on Monday but fled when they were asked to produce identity proof before being given rooms.
A 15-year-old dalit boy was allegedly tortured in custody in front of his father in Odisha's Kendrapara district earlier this week leading to the ordering of a departmental inquiry into the incident.
Noting that heavy deployment of security forces in neighbouring Chhattisgarh was driving Maoists to his state, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday demanded two additional Central Reserve Police Force battalions and a military chopper to "effectively" tackle the extremists.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday started its investigation into alleged criminal negligence leading to the Balasore train accident which claimed 278 lives after registering a first information report (FIR), officials said.
The new machine, that landed at the Chinyalisaur helipad, over 30 kilometres from the tunnel on the Chardham route, is being put into service, amid apprehension by workers at the site on the progress of the multi-agency rescue operations.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Monday said the prime accused in the molestation case of a girl in Guwahati is in Bhubaneswar but has not been arrested so far.
Senior India hockey player Birendra Lakra was on Tuesday accused of involvement in the murder of his childhood friend Anand Toppo by the father of the deceased.
Rahul claimed that the Assam CM has taken land in Kaziranga National Park.
The 1986 batch Odisha cadre IPS officer has been described as a competent officer and is known for his acumen in handling disasters.
With the recovery of six more bodies, the toll in the boat mishap in Hirakud reservoir in Sambalpur district, Odisha, on Monday rose to 17.
The body should be carried on a stretcher or a cot and it should be kept appropriately in a designated place till all formalities are disposed of, the guideline said.
The incident occurred at the Santhaldih railway crossing, near the Bhojudih railway station, and the tractor got stuck between the railway track and the gate.
The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) said it will set up an exclusive healthcare centre for the families of servitors. Ahead of the Rath Yatra, a massive sample collection exercise was conducted on Monday night and one servitor had tested positive, Chief Secretary A K Tripathy said.
As the deadline set by two Maoist groups in the twin hostage crisis ends on Tuesday, the Odisha government seemed to have toughened its stance vis-a-vis their new demands.
The minister put in his papers as police began interrogation of the arrested SUM Hospital owner Manoj Ranjan Nayak.
