Maoists call for bandh in MP, Chhattisgarh, Maha on Dec 10

Bhopal, Dec 5 The police in Madhya Pradesh's Maoist-affected Balaghat district have found pamphlets on road with a message calling for bandh in three states Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra, on December 10, officials said on Sunday.

The police said Maoists have burnt a road-roller that was being used in the road construction work, and left behind pamphlets, on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday.

Police said that as per the pamphlets, enraged over the killing of Maoists in a police encounter at Gadchiroli in Maharashtra, a group of rebels burnt the road-roller at a village.

Confirming the incident, a senior police officer in Balaghat district told that police patrolling has been increased in the area and a search operation was underway.

"A banner and as many as seven pamphlets were recovered from the spot which mentioned the name of the Chhattisgarh Zonal Committee and Malajkhand Area Committee of Maoists. The pamphlets mentioned the killing of 26 Naxals (Maoists) who were killed in an encounter in Gadchiroli on November 13," a police officer said.

At least 26 Maoists were killed on November in a fierce encounter with security forces at a dense forest in Gadchiroli district in Maharashtra. Besides, 29 weapons were also recovered from the encounter site.

At the same time, in order to ensure better coordination and make the area free of Maoists, the Madhya Pradesh government has decided to bring three Maoist-hit districts such as Dindori, Balaghat and Mandla under one police zone. From December 1 all these three Maoist-hit districts that were falling under their respective district zones so far, have been brought under one police zone -Balaghat zone.

Balaghat has been one of the most Naxal-hit districts in Madhya Pradesh. Last month, a group of Maoists allegedly killed two villagers on the suspicion of being police informers in Malikhedi village. As per the police, in a similar incident in June this year, the Maoists had killed a 42-year-old man in Bamhani village in the same district.

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