Bhubaneswar, Aug. 9: The “toiling masses”, whose cause the Maoists’ claim to champion, were at the receiving end of a bandh organised today by the rebels to mark the death anniversary of Kranti Randev, one of their top leaders who was killed in 2001.

Reports reaching from Koraput and Malkangiri said hundreds of labourers remained stuck at various places in these districts as no buses were available to take them to the work sites. The impact of the shutdown was most visible in the interior parts of these districts, where several poverty alleviation projects involving daily wagers were in progress.

Though partial, impact of the bandh was also felt in tribal-dominated Kandhamal district, where shops remained closed in areas such as, Daringbadi and Simonbadi. Two suspected Maoists were arrested at G. Udaygiri.

Sources said buses were off the roads in the Maoist-affected areas such as, Motu, Padia, MV-79 and Kalimela of Malkangiri district and Narayanpatna, Bandhugaon and Baipariguda areas of Koraput. No untoward incident was reported from any of these areas. But, residents remained indoors fearing rebel attacks.

Buses, however, plied as usual and business establishments remained open in Gajpati and Rayagada districts. Same was the case in Ganjam, Mayurbhanj and Sundargarh, which had also been reporting Maoist activities.

Officials said the day remained incident-free because of tight security all over the state. Security measures in areas bordering Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh had also been tightened.