Phulbani (Odisha), Feb 8 (PTI) Suspected Maoists set afire two road construction equipment in Odisha's Kandhamal district in protest against conducting the three-tier panchayat elections in the state, police said on Tuesday.

The incident took place at Kiamunda village under the jurisdiction of Phiringia Police station on Monday night.

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The construction work was being carried out by a private company, said P Shyamsundar Rao, the Inspector-in-Charge of Phiringia Police Station.

Police said the ultras, suspected to be members of the Kalahandi-Kandhamal-Boudh-Nayagarh (KKBN) division of the banned CPI (Maoist), reached the construction site around midnight and torched the equipment.

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Some hand-written Maoists posters were also spotted at the scene, with an appeal to the villagers to boycott the ensuing panchayat polls, withdrawal of CRPF camps in the area and the district, and adequate payment of wages to labourers, Rao said. Further investigation is underway.

The panchayat polls will be held in five phases between February 16 and February 24.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)