RAIPUR: A group of Maoists killed a BJP worker Kudiam Mado, 35, on suspicion of being a police informer at Somanpalli village in strife-torn Bijapur district, about 400 km south of Raipur on Wednesday.
The deceased was dragged out of his house by the Maoists and strangled to death, stated the police who reached the village after being alerted by locals.
The cadres of the banned outfit left a pamphlet at the site of the crime claiming to be the Maoist national park area committee and accused Mado of being a police informer.
Security forces have launched a search operation in the area to track down the assailants.
“By killing innocent people in villages, the Naxalites are calling it a people’s revolution. It is a cowardly act. Neither do they have any ideology nor any plan for people’s welfare. They are only making their own lives secure," said Vijay Sharma, the state home minister.
Meanwhile, a Maoist in uniform was killed in an exchange of fire with the security forces at Munga in Bijapur, south Bastar.
In the last week, the Maoists have killed five tribal civilians in Bijapur. Two sarpanchs, one of them associated with the ruling BJP, were killed by the Maoists last Thursday. Two women including an Anganwadi assistant were strangled to death, both suspected of being police informers in Bijapur, a couple of days ago.
The police suspect the role of a small action team of the outlawed CPI (Maoist) in these incidents.
Ahead of the upcoming polls in the three-tier panchayats, the killing of civilians by Maoists is seen as an attempt to create an environment of terror among the local villagers.
Bijapur is among the seven Maoist-affected districts in the conflict-ridden Bastar zone.