Maoists threaten to punish collector, MLA in Praja Court

OST Bureau

Paikamal/Bargarh, Sep 25:

While the police is busy intensifying anti-Maoist operations in the Paikamal area in Bargarh district, the red rebels have issued threats to the district collector and Padampur’s BJD legislator and warned them of severe punishment by the Praja Court.

Police on Tuesday seized a Maoist poster near the Paikamal main square and a banner near Jamseth, both of which carry the Maoist warning to the district collector Bhabagrahi Mishra and the BJD MLA of Padampur, Bijay Ranjan Singh Bariha.

In its message, the Chhattisgarh-Odisha Border State Committee (COBSC ) of the CPI (Maoist) has alleged that the Padampur MLA has illegally awarded a contract to Ashoka Builders in return for a bribe of Rs 4 crore and that he has been collecting bribes from the local youth by promising them  teachers’ jobs under the Sarva Sikshya Abhiyan.

Accusing the collector and the MLA of looting money from various welfare programmes meant for the poor, diverting PDS rice to the millers and conspiring to hand over Gandhamardan hills to a multi-national company, the Committee has warned them of stringent punishment in the Praja Court.

The warning of the left wing ultras may have come in the wake of the death of one of their cadres during an encounter with the police inside the Gandhamardan hill forest recently, police said.

Security has been beefed up in the area following the appearance of the Maoist posters.