Bhubaneswar, Sep 7 (IANS) Maoist guerrillas early Tuesday blasted a newly constructed government building in Orissa's Malkangiri district, police said.

About 100 armed rebels set off landmines to rip apart the block office building at Padia in the Maoist stronghold of Malkangiri, about 620 km from Bhubaneswar.

'The rebels first asked the workers living in the building to vacate. After that they blasted it. The building was damaged,' a senior district police official told IANS.

The rebels often target school, panchayat and other government buildings in the region as they suspect the government may use these to house security forces during the anti-Maoist operation.