Berhampur, April 3: At least 35 armed Maoists made off with Rs 10 lakh from the house of one Braja Bandhu Chowdhury in Asurabandha village, which falls in Sorada police station limits in Ganjam district, on Friday night.
The Red rebels also stuck posters on the walls of the house, before they left the place, according to sources. They warned villagers against informing police about the incident and ironically, no FIR has been registered so far.
They also allegedly forced villagers and women of Braja Bandhu Chowdhury’s family to kneel on the road at gunpoint.
“Thirty-five guns-wielding Maoists dressed in black clothes and a black headscarf and holding kit bags on their shoulders raided the house situated on NH-217 around 9pm and stayed there up to 12.30am. Before raiding the house, they blockaded the NH connecting Sorada and Daringibadi by putting boulders on the road,” said one villager.
“About 15 Maoists entered the house and 20 others stood on guard outside. Some villagers who came near to the house to witness what is going on were detained by the Maoists at gun point. They were told to kneel down on the NH and place their hands behind them till the Maoists had leftm,” said another villager who did not want to be named.
The Maoists who entered the house of Braja Bandhu asked about the whereabouts of his son Badri who runs a cloth store in the house complex. But as Badri was absent and his cloth store was closed that night, they went on a looting spree. When the women of the family opposed them, the Maoists threatened them at gun point, took them outside to the NH and forced them to kneel down.
They also snatched the mobile phone sets of every family member and looted cash and jewellery. They also took away some clothes, rice bags and grocery items from the cloth store and the the grocery shop in the house, family members said.
The Maoists have threatened to blow up the house if the family members inform the police. “We have taken the action against Badri as he is exploiting the public and threatening them,” the Maoists wrote on a poster. The posters were small in size and written in hand with red, sources said.
“I have seized some posters from the village and am sure that this is the handiwork of the Maoists,” P.K. Barla, inspector-in-charge of Sorada police station said.
Asked what would be the police’s next step, Barla said: “We will take cognizance of it of our own. Higher authorities of the police will take a final decision.”
The posters alleged that the state government had violated the conditions arrived at while setting free kidnapped Malkangiri collector R. Vineel Krishna and asked for judicial inquiry into the Chamakhandi police custody death, registration of a murder case against Ganjam superintendent of police Nitinjit Singh and assistant director general (operations) Sanjiv Marik, and withdrawal of power tariff hike in Orissa.
