Heavily-armed Naxalite guerrillas today attacked the Essar facility in Dantewada district and set fire to about two dozens vehicles, besides damaging other equipment. This is the second attack on the steel major's iron ore beneficiation plant in the last two months.
According to police sources, about two-dozen heavily-armed Naxalites stormed into the Essar's iron ore beneficiation plant near Kirandul, about 350 km south of the state capital, at about 8 pm.
The steel major supplies iron ore from its 8 million tonne per annum (mtpa) plant near Kirandul to the pellet plant in Visakhapatnam. The iron ore slurry is pumped through a 267-km pipeline (the second longest in the world).
Sources said soon after entering the site, located in the forested pocket, they opened indiscriminate fire. No one was hurt. The employees were asked to mobilise at a spot. The Naxalites then pumped out diesel from the vehicles and set them on fire. Sources said reports of 19 vehicles being damaged had come in but the number would be not be less than two dozen. The equipment of the company was also damaged, sources added.
Further details were awaited as the Naxalites were still camping at the site till the filing of this report (9.25 p.m.). Senior police officials could not be contacted as they were reportedly busy arranging reinforcements.
Maximum force was deployed in and around Barsur, where Chief Minister Raman Singh landed in the afternoon to inspect the site where the Naxalites had blown up a power supply tower on Thursday. The attack had plunged the entire region into darkness.
The rebels had earlier attacked the plant on April 24 and set ablaze 53 trucks.
The Essar plant started operations in the area about four years ago.
