Naveen condemns killing of three forest employees by Maoists

Bhubaneswar,Feb 1(UNI) Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today described the killing of three forest officials by Maoists as barbaric and announced an ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh to next of kin of the deceased forest personnel.

Armed Maoists shot dead a forester and two forest guards yesterday after abducting them from a camp inside a forest in Kamakhyanagar division of Dhenkanal district.

Police said the Maoists raided a forest camp, abducted the forester first and later the two forest guards at gun point.

Their hands were tied and they were shot dead inside the deep forest. The bodies were later recovered by the police.

Two more forest guards present at the camp who fled from the scene into the deep forest out of panic were later traced.

State Home Secretary T K Mishra said the police have launched an intensive combing operation after the incident and rushed two platoons of CRPF to the Athamallik forest division to nab the Maoists involved in the gruesome killings. The police have also sealed all exit points in the forest division and alerted the nearby police stations.

UNI