Bhubaneswar, July 6: Barely 24 hours before the two-day Bharat bandh of the Maoists tees off, the red brigade today blew up a school building in Malkangiri district, about 618 km from here.

Around 100 armed Maoists, including some women, took siege of the MV-21 village under Kalimela police limit before dawn today and blew up the primary school building by using explosives. No injury or casualty was reported.

“The structure has been damaged completely. Nobody was injured,” Sanjeeb Panda, the deputy inspector-general (south western range), told The Telegraph.

“The Maoists have been targeting school buildings and panchayat godowns apprehending that such places could be used to accommodate security forces during the anti-Naxalite movements,” Panda said.

The incident came a day after Maoists blew up a panchayat office building and a godown in Kalimela area in Malkangiri district yesterday.

A number of rebels stormed into Mandapalli village under Kalimela area and triggered a landmine blast at the panchayat building and the godown nearby.

Nobody was injured yesterday as well.

According to DIG Panda, the Maoists have blown up nearly eight school structures and panchayat buildings in Malkangiri district in the past six months.

“This has been their tactics to demoralise the anti-Naxalite forces deployed in the district. But they will not succeed in their motive,” Panda said.

Three battalions of Border Security Force have been deployed in the district to combat Naxalism, he added.