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Nayagarh residents shell-shocked

— Photo: Ashoke Chakrabarty

Audacious attack: People taking a look at the ammunition boxes at the district armoury and Police Training School, at Nayagarh on Saturday.

NAYAGARH: On Friday night, the residents of this sleepy district headquarters town could hardly comprehend what exactly had happened in their township. But they were left shell-shocked at the break of dawn.

The policemen who were there to protect them and maintain law and order in their district were at the receiving end this time.

They had been badly attacked by hundreds of armed Left wing extremists and their arms and ammunitions had all been taken away.

Thousands of people thronged the district armoury and police training school arms depot to have a glimpse of the devastation caused by the Maoists.

Pool of blood on the ground, burnt remains of the district armoury police barrack, damaged police vehicles, bodies of policemen killed in the naxal attack, morally shaken police personnel, and empty rooms of the arms depots all depicted the picture of the horrifying Maoist attack.

Although the authorities had reportedly received a letter with a threat of a naxal strike in Nayagarh more than two years ago, it was for the first time that the naxalites had actually struck in the district.

“I could hear the sound of bullets being fired at the police training school depot arms depot from our house. We also saw the Maoists leaving the town in their vehicles. What happened on Friday night would surely demoralise the police,” said Hrudananda Mishra, a local.

“I had to run for cover and finally surrender before the Maoists after one of my colleagues fell to their bullets. We were not in a position to confront the extremists who came in large numbers and surrounded us from all sides,” said Havildar Chaturbhuja Sahu who was on duty at the arms depot of the police training school.

Reserve Inspector Juria Behera of the police training school arms depot came running from his residence to see what was happening at the armoury. But he had to finally run for cover. A nervous Behera was not even given water by the residents of the locality who all had bolted their doors from inside out of fear.

“I tried to arrange a vehicle to block the road, but in vain. I saved myself from the Maoists’ bullet as one of our Constables shouted asking me to hide to escape from firing. One of the Maoists had already aimed his gun at me when I managed to escape,” Mr. Behera said.

Similar accounts were narrated by several police personnel who witnessed the naxal mayhem. One of the Constables, however, blamed the administration and the politicians for the rise of naxalism in the State.

The Friday night’s naxal strike in Nayagarh was the third such incident to happen in the State.

The Maoists had struck in a similar fashion at Koraput town in February 2004 and at R. Udayagiri town of Gajapati district in March 2006. In both the incidents, the extremists had looted arms by raiding police establishments.

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