Bhubaneswar: Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Monday called chief minister Naveen Patnak and congratulated him on Odisha police's success in operations against Maoists.
On Sunday, the police killed six Maoists in two encounters and seized a huge cache of arms and ammunition. The police on Monday recovered the body of another Maoist from Kandhamal.
Rajnath called Naveen in the evening and inquired about police action against the Maoists. He praised the police for its intelligence-gathering and the way it had conducted a co-ordinated strike on the rebels. Rajanth also telephoned Odisha director-general of police R.P. Sharma.
Sharma said: "Both chief minister Naveen Patnaik and Union home minister Rajanath Singh called me and congratulated Odisha police for its anti-Maoist operation. We will intensify our combing operation against the Maoists."
In order to penetrate the Maoist strongholds, the state government on Monday announced that it would throw open the much-awaited Gurupriya bridge to the public in June. The 910-metre bridge on the river Gurupariya in the Maoists stronghold of Malkangiri connects the cut-off area of the district with 150 villages to the mainland. The Maoists have been opposing the construction of the bridge.
Works minister Prafulla Mallick said: "The work of the Gurupriya bridge is almost complete. It will be opened to the public next month. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik will inaugurate the bridge and dedicated it to the people."
Speaking on the bridge, Sharma said: "It will help in the mobility of the security forces and strengthen the anti-Maoists operations."
The bridge has taken nearly 36 years to complete. The foundation stone for the bridge was first laid in 1982 by former chief minister J.B. Patnaik and later by chief minister Naveen Patnaik in 2000. Work on the bridge started afterwards. On several occasions, the contractors had withdrawn from the project following threats by Maoists. Bridge work continued slowly over the years with the threat of Maoist violence hanging over it like the sword of Damocles. The work was finally expedited with police protection.
Once the bridge is open, it will provide road connectivity to nearly 30,000 tribal people living in the 25 panchayats in the cut-off area to the mainland.
