Probe ordered into attack on former Orissa MP

October 14th, 2009 BHUBANESWAR - Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Pattnaik Wednesday said the security of political leaders in the state would be increased in the wake of a Maoist attack on a former Jharkhand Mukti Morcha MP Tuesday. "Certain steps are being taken in that regard.

October 13th, 2009 BHUBANESWAR - Under pressure from opposition parties, the Orissa government Tuesday ordered a probe into reports of farmers' suicides in the state. Orissa Agriculture Minister Damodar Rout has instructed the revenue divisional commissioner (RDC), northern range, to file in a day or two a report on the alleged farmers' suicides after crop loss.

September 22nd, 2009 BHUBANESWAR - Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Tuesday ordered an inquiry into the arrest of a journalist by police two days ago in Orissa's Gajapati district for his alleged links with Maoist rebels, a senior official here said. Laxman Choudhuri, a reporter of Oriya daily "Sambad", was arrested Sunday from Mohana area on the charge that a packet containing eight pieces of Maoist leaflets addressed to him were recovered from a bus conductor.

September 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A probe has been ordered into the death of four labourers while they were cleaning a sewer at a treatment plant in northwest Delhi, officials said Friday. The incident took place last (Thursday) evening when four labourers got into a sewer at the Combined Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) at Lawrence road.

August 15th, 2009 LUCKNOW - A 25-year-old prisoner hailing from Orissa allegedly committed suicide in a jail in Jhansi district of Uttar Pradesh, police said Saturday. "Tapan Sahu was found hanging today (Saturday) by a scarf from a tree in the jail premises," Senior Superintendent of Police Vinod Kumar told IANS on telephone.

July 27th, 2009 BHUBANESWAR - Two women in this Orissa capital were critically injured when a youth allegedly threw acid on them, police said. "Two girls, Rashmirekha Behera, 23, and Kainath Ali, 21, suffered serious burn injuries following the attack.

July 13th, 2009 BHUBANESWAR - The Orissa assembly was adjourned several times Monday after the opposition parties created uproarious scenes demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into alleged illegal mining by a private company in the mineral-rich Keonjhar district. As the house assembled, Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh raised the issue and questioned the government's announcement of a vigilance inquiry into the matter while the house was in session.

April 8th, 2009 BHUBANESWAR - The Nationalist Congress Party alliance with the Left parties and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Orissa is 'only Orissa-specific', NCP chief Sharad Pawar said here Wednesday. 'Our arrangement is only Orissa-specific,' Pawar told a press conference, addressed jointly with Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury and BJD chief Naveen Patnaik.

March 23rd, 2009 BHUBANESWAR - A judicial probe has been ordered into Sunday's police firing incident in Orissa's Dhenkanal District that left one person dead and several injured.ccording to an official statement released on Monday, the officer-in-charge of the local police station has been suspended, and 100,000 rupees ex-gratia payment has been announced for the family of the victim. "A judge of the rank of district judge will conduct the probe," the statement said.

March 23rd, 2009 BHUBANESWAR - A police officer has been suspended and a judicial probe ordered into an incident of police firing that left one person dead and several injured in Orissa's Dhenkanal district, authorities said Monday. The officer in charge of the local police station has been suspended and Rs.100,000 ex-gratia payment has been announced for the family of the victim, an official statement said.

February 28th, 2009 BHUBANESWAR - Maoist guerrillas Saturday attacked a railway station and blew up its building in Orissa's Sundergarh district, police said. Nearly 100 rebels attacked the Bhalulata railway station, asked three employees to vacate the building and blew it up with explosives, Inspector General of Police Pranabindu Acharya told IANS.

February 15th, 2009 BHUBANESWAR - Indian Railways has begun its probe into the train accident in Orissa that claimed nine lives and injured about 150, an official said Monday. 'Balbir Singh, the commissioner of railway safety, has arrived here.

February 13th, 2009 BHUBANESWAR - A high-level probe has been ordered into the train accident in Orissa's Jajpur district that claimed at least 15 lives and injured over 150, an official said Saturday. 'A high-level probe has been ordered to ascertain the reasons behind Friday's accident,' J.P.

February 11th, 2009 BHUBANESWAR - Opposition legislators Thursday noisily protested in the state assembly against violence in an Orissa town a day earlier, forcing Speaker Kishor Mohanty to adjourn the house four times. Minutes after the house began its sitting for the day, lawmakers of the Congress and other opposition parties gathered near the well of the house and raised slogans demanding a statement from Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

December 26th, 2008 BHUBANESWAR - At least 26 industrial units in Orissa were closed and eight others served show-cause notices this month for causing pollution, a state government official said Saturday. The Orissa State Pollution Control Board ordered the closure of 26 units and issued show-cause notices against the others in the first week of December, B.K.