RAIPUR: Maoists evacuated a private passenger bus plying between Dhanora and Orchha in the restive district of Narayanpur, some 300 km from Raipur, before setting it ablaze around Monday midnight. Narayanpur police said no passengers were harmed by the Maoists.
The passengers said some armed men had stopped their bus at Jhorigaon and asked them to get down. The driver, conductor and passengers watched helplessly as the Red brigade torched the bus and walked away.
“Maoists are frustrated owing to the ongoing road construction in the region. They have been opposing the 66 km long road coming up from Narayanpur to Orchha in Abujmadh. Despite their threat and hostility, 45 km has already been completed under the security of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the district police force”, Narayanpur district police chief Santosh Singh told the New Indian Express.
Security forces rushed to the spot to assist passengers and organised a search to hunt down the rebels. The construction work for the remaining 20 km had apparently distressed the outlawed CPI (Maoist) as the area happens to be a Naxal stronghold.
A few days ago, the area witnessed an exchange of gunfire between rebels and the police. “Seven Maoists were arrested from the region and confessed of being involved in violence and arson,” Singh said.
Narayanpur is one of the seven worst-affected districts in the conflict zone of Bastar.