By Sujeet Kumar
IANS
Raipur : A power blackout caused by Maoists in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh worsened Tuesday as they brought down three more high-tension power transmission towers overnight, officials said.
The rebels also killed three power board workers by triggering a blast, forcing security to be beefed up.
Government-run relief shelters and police camps are perceived to be under threat in the mineral rich, forested region that is dominated by Maoists.
"Security was beefed up Tuesday with the deployment of extra troopers in and around 22 government-run relief camps that house about 50,000 people, mostly tribal families," acting Director General of Police Sant Kumar Paswan told IANS on phone.
He said police posts and security camps in the Bastar region comprising Dantewada, Narayanpur, Bijapur, Bastar and Kanker had been altered after the blackout by Maoists who have blasted off eight high-tension power transmission towers since Friday.
Paswan was going to Bastar along with Chhattisgarh State Electricity Board (CSEB) chairman Rajeev Ranjan to take stock of the security scenario and power crisis in the region.
The rebels blasted off a CSEB truck Tuesday, killing three workers who were on their way to a forested location to work on power supply.
Police feel that rebels are disrupting power installations in order to target government offices, the police and even tribals who are part of the Salwa Judum anti-Maoist movement launched in June 2005. Most of those who deserted their native villages and settled in relief camps due to the Maoist threat are supporters of the Salwa Judum.
Maoists have destroyed eight 220 KV towers in the Bastar region since Friday. As a result, the Dantewada, Bijapur, Narayanpur and Bastar districts have no power.
The health sector and water supply services are the worst affected. The home department of the state has beefed up the security of jails in Bastar that house arrested leftist radicals to foil any bid by Maoists to free their jailed associates.
Bastar is home to several major private companies and the public sector National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC).
"Iron ore production and transportation to the domestic market and exports to China and Japan have come to a complete halt since the past five days and would continue to suffer for a week," a senior NMDC official told IANS.
Maoists have a strong presence in the Bastar hills and run a parallel government in the interior pockets.