Maoists blow up bridge on key national highway

Raipur: Maoist militants on Tuesday blew a bridge on a key national highway in Chhattisgarh that connects the state's violence-hit Bastar region to the state capital, police said.

The bridge is at Kondagaon on National Highway Number 30 in Bastar district, some 210 km south of Raipur.

"It was a massive blast that ripped through the bridge. The traffic on the key national highway, Number 30, was blocked for hours after the blast but was resumed later," Bastar's Superintendent of Police Ratanlal Dangi told IANS.

He added that patrolling was intensified after the incident, the first Maoist attack on the highway.