Bhubaneswar: The Martyrs' Week being observed by the Maoists in Odisha concluded on Friday with no major incidents of violence due to the intensified combing by security forces especially along the Malkangiri-Koraput-Rayagada belt.

"This time, our forces were extra vigilant and combing was intensive. Despite rain, patrolling was conducted even in densely forested areas," said Rayagada additional superintendent of police Jagannath Rao.

The police also took steps to ensure the security of their informers who become the easiest targets of the Maoists.

Though the rebels failed to step up violence, they did put up posters and banners in districts such as Malkangiri, Koraput, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Rayagada, Balangir, Bargarh and Angul.

The posters appealed to the people to protest against the government's Operation Green Hunt which is aimed at curbing Maoist activities.

The Maoists held a massive camp at Ralegada on Andhra Pradesh-Odisha border on July 28, the first day of the protest, under the supervision of senior leader Rabana who called upon people to support the Maoist movement.

However, tight security and precautionary measures taken by the Odisha government ensured that there were no major cases of violence.

As a preventive measure, buses plying on at least 27 routes via Jeypore in Koraput district were cancelled by the administration to ward off untoward incident. Besides, additional police checkposts were set up at key entrance points into Koraput, Malkangiri and Rayagada districts.

However, despite heightened security Maoist posters appeared even in the sensitive Niyamgiri area in Rayagada district where local Kondh tribals have been carrying on an agitation against mining. The posters put up by the Bansadhara-Ghumusar-Nagavali division of CPI (Maoist) appealed to the tribals to make the Martyrs' Week a success. They also called upon people to protest against Operation Green Hunt.

Sources said the rebels were looking for an opportunity to trigger violence in Malkangiri where chief minister Naveen Patnaik recently inaugurated the Gurupriya bridge connecting 150 villages in the district's inaccessible "cut-off" area with the mainland. However, round-the-clock patrolling by jawans of the Border Security Force near the bridge thwarted such attempts.