As many as 34 villagers of Chitrakonda were on Sunday detained at the local police station for questioning on suspicion of their involvement in Maoist-related activities.
The villagers were from Ralegada panchayat in the cutoff area of Malkangiri district.
Police were interrogating the villagers separately and trying to establish their link with the violent incidents in the past.
According to sources, a list of militia and cadre Maoists would be prepared after the screening process. After the villagers’ involvement in the extremist activities is established, they would be forwarded to court in course of the day. The innocent villagers would be freed from detention after interrogation is over.
In another incident, a group of Maoist barged into the weekly Haat at Erabora, and took one Ganga Padiami of Sukma of bordering Chhattisgarh with them and killed him by slitting his throat open with a sharp weapon. Before fleeing the area, the ultras left a note stating the deceased was persuading the Maoists to lay down their arms and surrender before the police.
In yet another development, BSF personnel on Sunday seized a huge cache of arms and ammunitions during a combing operation in the Pitakonda forest under the Kalimela police station in Malkangiri district. The Central paramilitary personnel were on a routine combing operation when they came across the ammunitions hidden underground.