Malkangiri: Following a ground assessment by RDC (South) Sangram Keshari Mohapatra and Malkangiri Collector Somesh Kumar Upadhyay, the district administration has extended restrictions on internet services for another 24 hours.

Official sources said the curbs will remain in force from midnight tonight until midnight tomorrow.

The RDC and the Collector visited MV-26 today to review the situation firsthand. In view of the prevailing tension, the district administration has also suspended the ‘Malyabanta Mahotsav’, which was scheduled to be held from December 14 to 18.

Earlier in the day, Deputy Chief Minister K.V. Singhdeo and Animal Resources Development Minister Gokulananda Mallik visited the violence-hit area and held discussions with district officials.

Meanwhile, Opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president Naveen Patnaik has constituted a seven-member fact-finding team to assess the situation. The committee includes Manas Madkami (Coordinator), Manohar Randhari, MLA; Ramesh Majhi, former Minister; Pradeep Majhi, former MP; Rabi Nanda, former Minister; Ishwar Panigrahi; and Laxmipriya Nayak, MLA candidate from Chitrakonda.

Tension escalated after protestors set more than 50 houses ablaze and vandalised over 160 homes in MV-26 village. Hundreds of Bengali-speaking families, who had migrated from Bangladesh decades ago and reside in the village, have fled to neighbouring areas to escape the violence.

Multiple platoons of the Central Armed Police Forces and Odisha Police have been deployed to prevent further escalation.

The unrest began after the body of a tribal widow, Lake Padiami of Rakhalguda village, was recovered from a river, four days after she went missing.

Internet services across Malkangiri district have remained suspended since 6 p.m. on Monday. The restrictions are being extended in phases depending on the ground situation.