BALANGIR: Maoists struck again at Halanbhata village in Turekela block of the district and set afire three tractors on Wednesday night. The tractors were being used in PMGSY road work from Lathore to Dholmandal.The incident comes close on the heels of burning of down of kendu leaf phadis (godowns) in Badbanki and Sanbanki villages under the block on Monday night.While two of the tractors have been burnt completely, another was partially damaged.As per reports, construction of the PMGSY road had been outsourced to a couple of contractors who were doing piecemeal work.On Wednesday night, armed Maoists raided the project area and asked labourers to stop the work. They then emptied fuel tanks of the tractors, doused the vehicles with diesel and set them afire.They left behind posters where they claimed to be members of Balangir-Bargarh-Mahasammund divisional committee and directed the contractors to stop works on various roads and bridges.“When labourers are migrating to other States in search of work, executing road and bridge works using machines serves no purpose,” a poster read.The ultras also warned them of dire consequences if they went ahead with the work.Titilagarh SDPO Gananath Joshi said no complaint has yet been filed in this regard. He added that police were investigating and any headway can be made only after the contractors involved in the work are traced out.
Comments
0 comment