A senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader was abducted and murdered by Naxals in violence-hit Bijapur district under Bastar region, police said on Wednesday.
Santosh Punem, who was also a contractor, was abducted by leftist militants late Tuesday evening from his construction site in Marimalla village where he had gone to supervise some road- related work, Superintendent of Police Divyang Patel told media persons.
Some local tribals spotted his body lying in a pool of blood at the nearby Marimalla hills on Wednesday morning and then informed the police.
A team of security personnel rushed to the spot, which is located deep inside a forest some 16 km away from the police station.
Punem last year contested the state assembly polls from Bijapur seat as SP candidate.