The Maoists killed a 42-year old Christian pastor, Ramesh Majhi, of Puijhari village under the M Rampur police station in Kalahandi district on Tuesday night, suspecting him to be a police informer. locals found Majhi's body in the Telen Reserve Forest near the village.
The Red rebels had taken away Majhi from his house on Saturday night and subsequently gunned him down, suspecting him of keeping in touch with the police. A Maoist poster recovered near the body states that Majhi was punished at the Praja Court (Kangaroo court of the Maoist) for working as a police informer.
Majhi, who was staying in Dhingiapakhal village under Tumudibandha police limits, had received threats from the Maoists.
However, the police brushed aside the Maoists' allegation. "The deceased had nothing to do with the ongoing anti-Maoist operations in the district. He was not an informer. The Maoists must have killed him for some other reason, which is under investigation now," said Kalahandi Additional SP Akshya Kumar Das.
While the Maoist act has scared the locals, police said they (Maoists) are on the run for the past few months for extensive anti-Maoist operation in Kalahandi, Balangir and Nuapada districts and are trying to prove their presence by these stray incidents.
“In recent times, the Maoists are on run. They are trying to regroup themselves and executing stray incidents to terrorise the villagers. The deceased was not our informer. However, our area dominance exercise will be intensified and the Maoists activities’ will be checked,” Das added.