A sniffer dog was today injured when a landmine exploded at Hatamuniguda in Odisha's Rayagada district during a bandh called by the Maoists in protest against the killing of 28 rebels in an encounter in Malkangiri on October 24.
"We have diffused two IEDs (Improvised Explosive Device) which were planted by them (Maoists) at the Hatamuniguda area," said Rayagada SP K Siva Subramani.
He said the landmine explosion occurred when Muniguda police, along with the dog squad, was carrying out a search operation in the area, adding that a sniffer dog was injured in the incident.
Police seized a landmine and Maoist posters during the search operation, he said, adding that the bandh evoked a "lukewarm" response in the area.
Maoists had called the bandh in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Maharashtra.
While bus services came to a grinding halt in Koraput, Malkangiri and Rayagada, the urban pockets remained unaffected. State-run Odisha State Road Transport Corporation decided not to ply buses, officials said.
The situation was more or less similar in Kandhamal district. The Maoists blocked the Baliguda-Muniguda route by laying trees on the road near Kurtamgarh in G Udayagiri. No violence was reported during the bandh.
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