Koraput: After lying low for the past several months, the Maoists registered their presence in the Swabhimaan Anchal or cut-off area in Malkangiri district by killing a tribal villager on charges of being a police informer late on Tuesday night.
The deceased villager has been identified as Dasa Khemundu of Khagurguda village under Jodamba police station limits. According to sources, around 10 to 15 armed Maoists came to the house of Khemundu around Tuesday midnight and dragged him out. They assaulted Khemundu and took him to the outskirts of the village and slit his throat with a sharp-edged weapon.
The Maoists reportedly assaulted two villagers for helping police in counter-insurgency operations and warned people not to help police.
DIG (south-western range) Shafeen Ahmed K has brushed aside the Maoist allegations. “The deceased was not our informer. We have never ever received any information from him about the Maoists. We have our own intelligence network and the Maoists have labelled the deceased as an informer to gain public sympathy,” he said.
The Maoists might have killed him for some other reason which could be ascertained once we wrap up our investigation, he added.
According to the DIG, as the Maoists are on the backfoot in the Swabhimaan Anchal in past few months due to intensive combing operations and execution of large number of development projects, the rebels are gradually losing their tribal support base and committed the offensive out of frustration. “We have intensified our operations in the area and are on task to track down the attackers,” the DIG said.
On Monday, BSF personnel recovered and defused seven IEDs in the Swabhimaan Anchal.