Bhubaneswar, Oct. 25: Vehicles did not ply and shops were closed in parts of Rayagada, Malkangiri and Koraput districts today as the Odisha bandh called by the Maoists to protest against fuel price hike and the cap on LPG evoked partial response.

Official sources said the impact of the strike called by the Kanshipur-Niyamgiri Area Committee of CPI(Maoist) was most visible in Rayagada, where Maoists blocked major roads by felling trees and putting up revolutionary banners and posters in towns and villages.

While the Rayagada-Kalyansinghpur road was blocked by felling trees and placing boulders at strategic points, vehicles could not ply even between Rayagada and Muniguda.

“Though there were fewer obstructions on the road between Rayagada and Muniguda, the fear of hidden landmines kept vehicles away. No bus or truck owner was willing to take the risk,” said a senior government official in Rayagada.

Police patrolling throughout the districts, which shares borders with Kandhamal and Koraput — both rebel bastions — has been intensified.

Officials said though the shutdown was ostensibly organised to protest against fuel price hike and the LPG cap, the real intention of the rebels was to display their strength in southern Odisha, where the police and security forces have launched a sustained operation against them.

“During the last one year, they have lost many cadres in police operations. Some of their senior leaders have either been arrested or forced to give up arms. This has been taking a toll on the Maoist organisation and hence it has become imperative for the rebels reassert themselves,” said a police officer.

For quite sometime, the Maoists have been trying to make a comeback in districts such as Malkangiri and Koraput apart from Rayagada, where the security forces have been hot on their trail.

While in Malkangiri they recently threw a challenge to the police and the security forces by kidnapping nearly a dozen villagers, including two former sarpanches, in Koraput they attacked alleged police informers.

The rebels have also been on a recruitment spree and have been organising training camps for recruits.

Sources said the biggest challenge for the police was to destroy these training camps where experts from Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh honed the skills of freshers.