New Delhi, Dec. 11 -- Normalcy began to return to a violence-hit village in Odisha's Malkangiri district on Wednesday as around 300 displaced residents returned home, days after large-scale arson and attacks forced them to flee. Authorities, however, have extended the suspension of internet services across the district as precautionary measures remain in place.

Tensions in the region escalated after the headless body of 51-year-old Lake Podiami, a tribal woman from Rakhelguda, was found along the Poteru riverbank on 4 December. She had been missing since 1 December.

Enraged by the killing, local tribal residents vandalised nearly 200 houses in a Bengali settlement and set several homes on fire, prompting widespread displacement. Police ...