KalingaTimes Correspondent
Malkangiri(Odisha), June 30: Search operation was intensified in Chitrakonda reservoir in this backward district of Odisha on Monday to trace 37 persons who were feared dead after the motor boat they were travelling sank following Maoist attack on Sunday. The missing persons include at least 35 personnel of Greyhound force of Andhra Pradesh.

Four Indian Navy helicopters and a number of motor boats had been pressed into service and the divers were making efforts to trace the missing constables. However, there was no trace of the missing persons till late in the afternoon, police said.

A total of 66 persons, including about 62 Greyhound personnel, and two policemen from Chitrakonda police station were in the boat when it was attacked by the Maoists near Alampkekka at around 10-30 am on Sunday.

While 28 persons swam to safety and rescued by Sunday evening, there was no trace of others till Monday morning. However, one of the constables of Chitrakonda police station was traced in the forests close to the reservoir later in the day.

The greyhound personnel were crossing the reservoir to reach Chitrakonda town when the Maoists fired at the boat.

Although the constables opened fire at the Maoists who were atop a forested hill alongside the reservoir, the boat sank after it suffered damage in the attack. Many of them were injured bullet injuries.

As the search operation was going on in the reservoir, combing operation had been intensified in the region to track the attackers.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik held a meeting at the state secretariat here to take stock of the situation.

Condemning the attack, Patnaik said his government will pay an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each to the next of kin of those presumed dead in Sunday's Maoist attack. The government will also bear the medical treatment expenses of the injured policemen, he said.