Four Maoists held for ex-ward member murder

MALKANGIRI: In a major breakthrough, police have arrested four Maoists from Jalkanur and Rajulkonda areas for the murder of Dambrudhar Nayak, former ward member of remote Kurub village.

Nayak was brutally killed by the Maoists in Kalimela on suspicion of being a police informer eight days back.

Malkangiri SP Jagmohan Meena said that all the four rebels were produced in the court on Sunday. He, however, did not disclose the names of the arrested militia and said it may influence the ongoing investigation ahead of the Test Identification (TI ) Parade to be held soon.

In court, police sought the remand of the accused for the TI parade and interrogation. “Once the court accepts our plea, we will quiz them and do the TI parade,” Meena said and added that the rebels were arrested under Arms Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

As per reports, a group of about 20-30 armed Left Wing Extremists accompanied by some of their tribal sympathisers forced into Nayak’s house in Kurub under Badigetta panchayat of Kalimela block around midnight on October 6  and whisked him away to the outskirts of the village while shouting pro-Maoist slogans. The rebels later fired multiple rounds at Nayak from point blank range killing him on the spot. Nayak was branded as a police informer after summary trial in kangaroo court, sources said.

The former ward member, who was a member of the CPI (Maoist), had to quit the outfit a couple of months back and engaged himself in road construction works as a petty contractor, sources said. Nayak is survived by four sons and three daughters.  CPI (Maoist) Kalimela Dalam leader Randev was the mastermind of the murder of Nayak, SP Meena added.