Maoists blow up BSNL control room in Chhattisgarh

About 25 armed guerrillas Sunday night stormed into the room at Bakhrupara in Narayanpur, some 300 km south of here, and blew it up with explosives, said police officials in the district.

Narayanpur is part of the restive Bastar region.
Officials of BSNL here refused to give details but said that the loss incurred was not less than Rs.5 million as the control-cum-equipment centre had been destroyed completely.
Meanwhile, patrolling and search drives have been intensified across Chhattisgarh as the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) has called for a three-day strike Jan 25-27 to foil Republic Day functions.  

Officials at the police headquarters here added that over 41,000 police and paramilitary troopers have launched a coordinated offensive against the rebels in Chhattisgarh's western region bordering Maharashtra and southern pockets bordering Orissa.
The stepped-up offensives were launched after Home Minister P. Chidambaram chaired a review meeting here Jan 22 that was attended by Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh,  Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Maharashtra Home Minister R.R. Patil.