Maoists made their presence felt in Kalahandi and bordering districts by gunning down a contractor, laxmi Patnaik (23), at Trilochanpur under lanjigarh police station on Tuesday.Some posters left by the killers claimed that Patnaik was a police informer. The incident occurred at weekly market in Trilochanpur at around 12:30 pm.
According to Kalahandi SP Brijesh Kumar Rai, two armed people in plain clothes reached the village market and searched for Patnaik, who was present there. Then, they threatened people (around 200) not to oppose to their act. They dragged Patnaik away and shot at him from close range. Two bullets pierced his abdomen and chest.
Some handwritten posters left at the spot alleged that Patnaik was a police informer and had raped a Dongria tribe woman near Musa nal besides looting valuable articles. On July 27, 2011, some Maoists had killed Patniak’s brother Ajit, also a contractor, by slitting his throat at the Niyamgiri hill in the district.
The incident occurred at a distance of around nine kilometers from the the lanjigarh police station, where Border Security Forces (BSF) and CRPF personnel are camping at present. After this killing, a state of panic has prevailed in the area.
Earlier on January 22, the extremists had torched a Mid-Day Mill vehicle in the village and warned the driver against supplying the meal again. Since then children of 12 schools are deprived of the MDM.
The Red posters also warned that people involved in misappropriation of funds and looting in remote Kalahandi district would face similar consequences. Tuesday’s killing has indicated that Maoists in Kalahandi, Rayagada, Koraput, Nuapada, Nabarangpur and Kandhamal districts have been active again.