The two-day bandh called by Maoists to protest the killing of its top leaders Sakhamuri Appa Rao and Kondal Reddy in encounters in Andhra Pradesh ended on a violent note in Orissa on Tuesday night.
The naxalites caused major damage to Essar's pipeline pump house near Chitrakonda in Orissa, 17 km from Sileru, attacked a Special Operations Group (SOG) party of the Orissa Police in Gumma block in Parlakhemundi district killing three constables and leaving several injured, and blasted cell towers in Ganjam district.
The Maoists fired at special police officer Basudev Killo at Marriwada village in Malkangiri district when he was attending a local festival. A civilian was also injured. These two and the four SOG constables injured in the firing were admitted to a hospital here on Wednesday.
The attack on Essar's pump house, which was targeted several times in the past, went on for three hours from 11 p.m. on Tuesday. About 500 Maoists and sympathisers participated in the attack after blocking the road to Chitrakonda.
Journalists from Sileru who went to the spot said the air-conditioning plant, generators, transformers, panel boards and large bundles of cables were totally damaged.
