Trucks stand still on the outskirts of Berhampur during a Maoist bandh. File picture

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 13: Security was tightened in Orissa districts bordering Jharkhand as Maoists began a three-day bandh today to protest against Operation Saranda.

Barring the interior areas of Sundergarh, where the Maoists have pockets of influence, however, the bandh failed to evoke any significant response in other areas. The shutdown has been called by the Chhotanagpur division of the CPI(Maoist), which has demanded immediate suspension of the joint combing operation — Operation Saranda — by the Orissa and Jharkhand police in the Saranda forests that border the two states.

Significantly, the bandh in Sundergarh, Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar districts comes in the wake of the arrest of three Maoists, including rebel commander Prashant alias Shiva Munda, from the steel city of Rourkela on Thursday night. They were arrested while trying to board a bus to Bhubaneswar.

The rebels, who were caught with Rs 76 lakh in cash and a pistol, are reported to have confessed that they were trying to run away with the money collected through extortion as they had decided to leave the Maoist organisation.

Sources said that Operation Saranda had triggered panic among the Maoists as Saranda forests had hitherto been serving as an ideal hideout and training ground for them. “Now that every inch of the forest is being combed by the men in khaki, the rebels are left with no place to hide. Most of them are trying to escape with whatever money and arms and ammunition they have left with them. We suspect that those arrested in Rourkela were also trying to flee in the wake of the operation,” said a senior police officer adding that the Maoist bandh call was a panic reaction.

Though security was tight throughout Sundergarh, Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar — the three Orissa districts bordering Jharkhand — the Maoists still managed to make their presence felt in areas such as Jaraikela and Bhalulata where shops remained closed and vehicles kept off the roads. “These areas of Sundergarh district being close to the Maoist stronghold in Jharkhand, the people were forced to respond to the bandh call fearing reprisal from the rebels. However, in the rest of the areas the situation was normal,” said a senior police officer.

Highly-placed sources in Bhubaneswar said that an alert had been sounded throughout the state in view of Independence Day which the Maoists traditionally boycott. The movement of ministers visiting Naxal-affected areas on August 15 would be monitored constantly from the capital, the sources added.