RAIPUR: A Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) activist Dadu Singh Koratiya was shot dead by suspected Maoists at Konde village in the restive district of Kanker, about 200 km south of Raipur, the police said on Wednesday.
“A person cited to be RSS pracharak was shot dead by suspected Maoists, who also left pamphlet at the spot. He was killed by a pistol. The body has been sent for post-mortem. We are investigating the actual motive behind the killing and whether the person killed was from RSS background”, the Kanker district superintendent of police K L Dhruv told the Express and further added that the ultras are in the backfoot owing to successful operations against them and so are attempting to create an environment of terror among the villagers.
The police have launched a search operation in the region.
In the pamphlet left by the North Bastar Divisional Committee (CPI — Maoist), Koratiya has been cited as an active RSS pracharak and an antagonist to the interests of Dalits and tribals. “He was killed owing to his involvement in anti-tribal activities and we warn the senior leaders and workers of the BJP and the RSS to desist from such activities”, the seized letter further stated.
The Maoists first called Koratiya outside his house and aimed the pistol at him from a close distance, the police said.
Last year, he miraculously escaped an attack by the rebels on August 15 when he had gone to his farmland.
Kanker is among the seven worst Maoist-affected districts of Bastar in south Chhattisgarh.