By IANS,
Raipur : Public transporters kept their vehicles off the roads in the interiors of Chhattisgarh’s southern insurgency-hit Bastar region fearing attacks by Maoist guerrillas, who Monday began observing “martyrs’ week”.
Thousands of security forces deployed in the insurgent-hit Bastar, about 40,000 sq km area, have been put on high alert as the annual event of the leftist insurgents has witnessed widespread violence and attacks on government installations in the past.
Banned rebel terror outfit, Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), holds “martyrs’ week” every year to pay tribute to their colleagues killed in the past one year in clashes with police and para-military forces.
“Security has always been in top gear in Bastar but definitely police presence has been further boosted at government and police installations in interiors vulnerable to Maoists attack,” said Girdhari Nayak, inspector general of the state’s anti-Maoist operations.
Police officials informed that rebels have blocked several busy roads in interiors of Bijapur, Dantewada, Narayanpur and Kanker districts by felling trees from Monday morning.
The state, mainly due to its iron-ore rich Bastar region, is in the epicenter of Maoist violence for years. Early this month, the state government admitted in the legislative assembly that Chhattisgarh witnessed 1,093 killings, including of 726 civilians, between Jan 1, 2004 and June 20, 2008.