Malkangiri (Orissa), Nov.4 In yet another act of violence, a group of Maoists set ablaze a private steel company guest house in Orissa's Malkangiri district, as they started their two-day Bandh (closure) that hit normal life here on Wednesday.

According to a senior police official, around 50 armed Maoists attacked Essar Steel's guest house at Gajiagoda in Chitrakonda area of the district at midnight and set it ablaze.

The extremists stormed into the building by assaulting the guard of the guesthouse.

They also beat up two company engineers and locked them up in a nearby house, the police official said.

Meanwhile, the normal life in Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada and Gajapati districts of the State was affected on the first day of the two-day Bandh called by Maoists.

The call has been given by Maoists to protest the Centre's decision to launch offensive against them and the alleged police xcesses, police sources said.(ANI)