Kamakhyanagar: As many as six earth mover machines, engaged at the construction site at Anlabereni area in Dhenkanal district where houses for people displaced by Odisha Thermal Power Corporation Limited (OTPCL) are under construction, were gutted late Friday night.
A total of 11 such earthmovers were engaged at the construction site. According to contractor Himanshu Das, some miscreants set the vehicles on fire Friday night and six of them were completely gutted.
On getting information about the incident, a team from Pandua police outpost under Tumusingha police limits and fire personnel reached the spot. While the fire personnel doused the flame, the police launched an investigation.
Notably, local people have been opposing the new township project of OTPCL.
Such acts of setting construction materials on fire are generally reported from Maoist-infested areas like Malkangiri.
But in April 2018, Dhenkanal and five other districts like Jajpur, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Gajapati and Ganjam were declared free from Maoists.
PNN