Maoists torch forest range office in Orissa

Agencies Posted: Jan 05, 2008 at 0000 hrs
Sambalpur, Orissa, January 5: Armed Maoists torched a forest range office and several parked vehicles at Badrama in Sambalpur, police said.

A group of 20 Maoists, including two women, attacked the office late Friday night, beat up six forest guards and locked them up in a room before ransacking the premises and setting it on fire, the sources said.

Seven jeeps and four motorbikes parked in the premises were set ablaze. Files and documents of the range office were also destroyed in the fire.

The Naxalites also attacked the residence of a forester K C Nath and took away cash, ornaments and mobile handsets, the sources said.

A combing operation has been launched in the area.