Odisha farmer killed by Maoists in second murder in less than 24 hours

india

Updated: Jul 22, 2019 12:23 IST

A 50-year-old farmer was killed by suspected Maoists in Odisha’s Kalahandi late on Sunday, in less than 24 hours after a civil contractor was shot dead by left-wing extremists in the district, police said on Monday.

The superintendent of police of Kalahandi, a Maoist-hit area, B Gangadhar said Bhima Dora, a resident of Babupadar village under Biswanathpur police station area, was called by two people from his home at around 10.30pm on Sunday.

“Dora used to cook part-time in others’ homes. His wife said she thought her husband was being called for cooking in someone’s home. However, his body was found in Dangariguda this morning with his hands tied behind his back and face hit brutally with a stick. His chest was struck with a stone,” said Gangadhar.

Gangadhar said it was difficult to tell whether it was a typical Maoist killing in which the rebels hold a praja or people’s court in public detailing the crime of an accused and then execute him.

“We have to find out if this is a new style of killing by the Maoists,” he said.

Suspected Maoists had killed civil contractor Rajendra Sahu of Pahadpadar village under Lanjigarh block when he was buying vegetables and other provisions in the weekly market in Malipada area.

Police said a few posters claiming the Rayagada Area Committee of Maoists were behind the murder were found near the killing spot. Sahu had earlier faced attacks by Maoists when they burnt down his excavator and tractor in 2017.

If police investigations prove that both Sahu and Dora were killed by Maoists, then their families would get Rs 1 lakh each as ex-gratia from the central government scheme on security-related expenditure (SRE).

A recent review meeting of the state’s unified command over Maoist-affected areas found that despite a decline in incidents of Maoist violence, the situation in Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Rayagada and Malkangiri remained an area of concern after senior rebel commander Basavraj took over the reins of CPI(Maoist).