Bhubaneswar, Nov 16 (IANS) Nearly 50 Maoists ransacked a police station, set fire to records and torched a police jeep in Orissa’s Koraput district in what is believed to be a retaliatory attack, official said Tuesday.

The rebels attacked the police station at Kakiriguma, some 540 km from Bhubaneswar, District Superintendent of Police Anup Kumar Sahu told IANS.

‘The rebels damaged furniture and the doors of the police station. They burnt down papers and records,’ he said. They also torched the jeep parked outside before disappearing into the forest, he said.

‘The police station has been partially damaged,’ he said.

Koraput is considered a Maoist stronghold. The rebels are believed to have attacked the police station in retaliation for the recent arrest of some Maoists cadres in the district.