Malkangiri: Panic gripped the residents of Silakuta village in this district after a tribal man was shot at by a group of armed Maoists Sunday night for sensitising people against Red menace.
The victim was identified as Mangulu of the same village.
Sources said about 10 armed Maoists barged into the house of Mangulu at night and questioned him about his complicity with the police. Then, they opened fire and a bullet hit his right thigh. Presuming he was dead, the Maoists fled the area.
The villagers rushed Mangulu to Silakuta Primary Health Centre (PHC) from where he was later shifted to the district headquarters hospital. Mangulu had joined the Maoist outfit some years ago, but surrendered before the police four years back.
Sources in the locality said the Maoists had tried to kill Mangulu as he was motivating the people against the Maoists. He had also urged the Maoists to surrender arms and join the mainstream.
Meanwhile, security personnel launched a combing operation in the area to track down the Red Rebels.
In another incident, the BSF personnel of the Kudmulgumma base camp busted a Maoist camp inside the Dayapada forest near Orkel here during a combing operation Sunday evening.
Acting on a tip-off about the presence of Maoists inside the forest, the BSF personnel launched a combing operation. However, about 10 Maoists managed to flee.
The BSF team found a Maoist camp and seized huge cache of arms and explosives. Police suspect that the ultras were trying for a major assault on the security personnel and the police. Combing operation has been intensified.
PNN
