Lanjigarh: In a gruesome incident, ultras Monday night killed a village guard at Katlang village under Lanjigarh block in Kalahandi district suspecting him to be a police informer.
The Maoists also torched the vehicle of the village guard Chemu Harijan (40) and abducted two other villagers, it was learnt. Besides, they took Chemu’s Aadhaar card, ration card, voter identity card and his bank passbook with them. Police were yet to arrive at the spot till the time of filing this report.
According to the villagers, about 30 Maoists entered the house of the village guard Sunday. They picked up Chemu and five other villagers – Bighna Majhi, Nabi Majhi, Muga Majhi, Ichha Maji and Shiva Majhi – and took them to the forest. They brutally killed Chemu inside the forest after accusing him of being a police informer and dumped his body near a bridge close to the village Monday night. They, however, released the other five villagers who were abducted with Chemu. Later, the Maoists went to Chemu’s house and torched his new motorcycle at a place 100 m from his house. Chemu’s wife Mangalbari Harijan, an ASHA worker, left the village out of fear.
The Maoists said Chemu was informing the police about the movements of Maoists and played a crucial role in the encounter of woman ultra Sangeeta by police, according to Chemu’s wife.
The group again returned to the village Tuesday morning and abducted two village guards – Raghunath Nayak and Lalu Harijan of Salpangar village, villagers said.
Meanwhile, people living in inaccessible region of Lanjigarh are in a state of panic over the presence of Maoists in the area.
They have been living under constant fear due to the ongoing gunbattles between police and Maoists, villages said.
The Maoists have been on a rampage following the encounter of Sangeeta inside Katlang forest October 15. They called a bandh October 29 protesting her killing and blocked Musanal-Bhawanipatna road at Machul for the next three days.
While Greyhound jawans gunned down 27 ultras in the cutoff areas of Malkangiri Monday, the rebels killed a village guard in an act of retaliation the same day, it was learnt. PNN
