A 40-year-old man accused of being a police spy was killed in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district by Maoists who warned officials not to visit polling booths on November 7, an official said on Thursday.
Naxalites strangled Muchaki Linga with a rope on the night of Wednesday and Thursday and threw his body on the roadside between Galgam and Nadpalli villages, Bijapur Supeintendent of Police Anjaneya Viashnav said.
They accused Linga, who was from Galgam, of being a police informer.
In another incident, a statement carrying a warning for the polling staff, apparently issued by the West Bastar Division Committee of the outlawed CPI (Maoist), surfaced in the district.
“Polling is going to be held in the area (Bijapur) on November 7 and you (officials and employees) are preparing for it. The West Bastar Division Committee has already issued a statement giving a call to boycott the ‘false’ elections.
“Bijapur has 245 polling booths and you will be coming with EVMs on November 6-7. You will be accompanied by security forces which pose a threat to your lives. Therefore, we appeal to you, keeping your safety in mind, that you should not come,” the note said.
Bijapur is among the 20 assembly constituencies that will go to the polls in the first phase of Assembly elections on November 7. Polling for 70 seats will be held on November 17.
Bijapur apart, elections in the first phase will also be held in the Naxalite-hit Bastar division and the districts of Rajnandgaon, Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki, Kabirdham and Khairagarh-Chhuikhadan-Gandai.
Maoist banners and pamphlets asking people to boycott elections were recovered from several places in Bastar last month.
Asked about the warning, Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) Sundarraj P said all necessary arrangements would be in place for a peaceful conduct of elections.
“In the last four decades, they (Naxalites) were responsible for the death of more than 1,700 innocent civilians and destruction of public properties worth crores of rupees. The population of Bastar is annoyed with all this destructive attitude and they are looking forward to a positive environment,” said the officer.
