Maoists raid jail, free inmates, kill policemen
Source: IANS.


Bhubaneswar, March 24 : In a replay of the daring raid in Bihar, hundreds of Maoists Friday stormed a jail in Orissa and freed about 40 prisoners after attacking a police station, a police camp and a government treasury and killing two policemen, officials said.

Nearly 200 armed guerrillas entered into the R Udayagiri town in the southern district of Gajapati, some 60 km from the district headquarter of Paralakhemundi along with several of their supporters at about 5 a.m., state police chief Suchit Das told.

The Maoists, including some women guerrillas, cut telephone lines to the small town before their entry and simultaneously attacked the town police station, a camp of the state reserve armed police, local government treasury and the sub jail, the official said.

He said R.K. Mallik, police sub-inspector of the R Udayagiri police station Rabinarayan Sethi, the jail chief had been taken hostage by the Maoists who also managed to free about 40 prisoners including their associates from the jail.

guerrillas also set fire to records in the treasury and attacked the policemen, terrorising the area for over two hours, he said.

The policemen and the reserve armed personnel retaliated, said Das, adding that in the over two-hour-long gun battle at least two policemen and two soldiers were killed and two other policemen sustained injuries.

Police suspect that three or four Maoists were killed in the police firing, though the bodies have not been recovered and could have been taken away by their colleagues.

A senior district administrative official told IANS on condition of anonymity that when the Maoists struck, many of the top district officials including the district collector Binod Bihari Mohanty hid in their houses.

The incident also came up in the state assembly where the opposition Congress party demanded Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's resignation over the lawlessness prevailing in the state.

"The incident shows the health of our law and order," former chief minister J.B. Patnaik said. "When armed Maoists can attack several government offices in broad daylight, one can visualize the fate of common man," he said.

In November last year, hundreds of Maoists stormed Jehanabad town in Bihar, attacking the district jail, district court, police lines, police quarters, district armoury and police stations and freeing more than 300 prisoners including their comrades.