While the elections are round the corner, Maoist-related violence was reported from Malkangiri and Sundargarh districts, giving a headache to the security forces.
In the first incident, the Red rebels killed a relative of a road construction contractor at Kukurkunda village under the Mathili police station of Malkangiri district. The deceased Gupta Swain was working as supervisor at the construction site.
Sources said that a group of Maoists belonging to Bastar division of Chhattisgarh reached the village and mercilessly thrashed Swain and later slit his throat. The rebels also attacked other labourers present at the spot. They also torched a JCB and a Hywa truck engaged in the road construction from Kukurkunda to Temrupali under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), reports said.
The Maoists also left posters on the spot issuing warning against public construction works in the area. Police have began a probe into the incident.
In another incident, a group of miscreants suspected to be members of Peoples Liberation Front of India (PLFI), a Maoist frontal organisation torched a road roller engaged in construction work at Sanramloi village under Bisra tehsil of Sundargarh district. Bisra police reached the spot and recovered a letter which issued threat to the road contractor.
Notably, police officials of Odisha and five other neighbouring States had recently held a high-level meeting to discuss measures to effectively combat the Maoist threat for smooth conduct of elections.