nA sarpanch was hacked to death by Naxals in his native village in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district, police said on Saturday.
As per preliminary information, over a dozen ultras stormed into the house of Lakhma Ram Mandavi, 40, in Chhote Gudra village on late Friday night and attacked him with sharp-edged weapons, a senior officer said, adding that Mandavi died on the spot.
He said police were informed about the incident by locals on Saturday morning.
He said the deceased was a nominated sarpanch (village head) of Chhote Gudra village panchayat.
The motive behind the killing is not known yet, the officer said, adding that Naxal pamphlets were found at the spot.
"Prima facie, Maoists were demanding money from the sarpanch and called him up for a meeting. He might have been killed for refusing to pay," the officer said.
Further investigation is underway.
Notably, Dantewada is going for by-poll on September 23 following the death of lone BJP MLA from the region Bhima Mandavi who was killed along with four security personnel in an IED blast triggered by Naxals.
A few days back Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel had assured that security is not going be an issue in the by-polls.