Maoists torch vehicles in Orissa

Over 60 armed Maoist rebels have torched four vehicles of a private company at Mahupadar village in Malkanagiri district of Orissa, an official said on Wednesday.

Over 60 armed Maoist rebels have torched four vehicles of a private company at Mahupadar village in Malkanagiri district of Orissa, an official said on Wednesday.

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The rebels came in separate vehicles and torched four vehicles of a private contractor late on Tuesday night in Malkanagiri, more than 600 km from the state capital.

"They torched three pick-up trucks and an excavator," said A Routray, the deputy superintendent of police of Malkanagiri.

The vehicles were engaged in road construction which is being undertaken by a private contractor.

Maoist guerrillas had blown up a railway building and torched at least eight vehicles in Orissa's Sundergarh district early on Tuesday, the second day of their 48-hour shutdown in five states.

The banned Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) called a two-day strike in Jharkhand, Orissa, Bihar, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh to protest the arrest of two of their members. The schedule ended on Tuesday.