UMERKOTE: A village abandoned by its residents due to fear of Maoists was set afire allegedly by the red rebels in Nabarangpur’s Raighar block late in the night on Friday. Of the total 42 houses in Lakhanpur village, 32 were reduced to ashes in the blaze. Prima facie, it appears to be a case of arson. Locals suspect the involvement of Maoists in the incident.
Sources said the village was set up around 15 years back. Some locals cut down the forest to make way for the settlement. Since then, the villagers became the target of Maoists. Through posters and banners, the ultras were repeatedly warning the 250 residents to leave the village.
When the inhabitants refused to vacate the village even after repeated warnings, the Maoists reportedly picked up a villager Narayan Nagesh from his house and brutally killed him on March 17 this year. The red rebels said Nagesh was killed as a punishment for destroying the trees and setting up his house in the forest. They also warned the residents to vacate the forest land immediately.
In absence of security, all the villagers subsequently abandoned Lakhanpur and set up another colony at a distance of around 6 km. They took with them only the essential items and left other commodities in their locked houses. The residents used to visit the village once in a while to clean their houses.
After getting information about the fire incident, the villagers on Saturday returned to Lakhanpur to salvage the items which were spared by the blaze. On being informed, Raigarh police also reached the village and started investigation.
Contacted, Raighar IIC Pramod Kumar Nayak remained tight-lipped on the matter and said investigation is underway. Despite repeated attempts, Nabarangpur SP S Sushree could not be contacted.Locals said since there was a possibility of the villagers coming back to Lakhanpur, the Maoists set the houses on fire to prevent their return.