UMERKOTE: After a lull, Maoists made their presence felt in Nabarangpur district by killing a villager on suspicion of being a police informer in Raighar block on Thursday night. The incident took place in Khalepara village near Hatigaon reserve forest. The deceased was identified as 42-year-old Chandan Mallik.
Sources said at around 9 pm, a group of 25 Maoists reached Khalepara, which is located near Chhattisgarh border, and asked Chandan to come out of his house. The ultras took him to the local anganwadi centre and asked all the villagers to gather at the spot.
The Maoists held a meeting with the villagers in presence of Chandan. Subsequently, the villagers were told to go home. The ultras then tied Chandan’s hand with a rope and took him to a nearby field where he was assaulted and strangled to death. Before leaving, the Maoists left behind a poster near Chandan’s body stating the reason behind his killing.
The poster stated that a few days back, the ultras had warned Chandan of dire consequences if he continued to act as an informer of the police. As Chandan did not pay any heed to the warning, he was killed.
On being informed, Raighar police reached the village on Friday afternoon and seized the body. Raighar IIC Pramod Nayak said the Maoists have also threatened the deceased’s family members not to follow Chandan’s footsteps and act as police informers. “The deceased’s family members have left Khalepara and shifted to Khutugaon village which is only four km away from Raighar police station. Police have intensified patrolling in Khalepara village and nearby areas,” Nayak added.
Nabarangpur SP S Sushree said, “The deceased’s body was handed over to his family members after autopsy. The DIG, southwestern range is likely to brief the media in connection with the incident at Raighar on Saturday.