A group of Maoists killed a 25-year-old youth who wanted to join the police force and allegedly thrashed several others at a village in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh after locals refused to support their activities, police said.
The incident took place on Thursday in the forests near Burdikarka village coming under Kuakonda police station limits, according to Dantewada Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) (anti-Naxal operations) Gorakhnath Baghel.
A group of around 50 maoists and their supporters stormed into the village on February 1 and forcibly took away several villagers including women along with them into the forests, the ASP said.
However, the incident came to light on Thursday evening when some locals informed the police that rebels had brutally thrashed
villagers of Burdikarka and one of them died in it following which security forces were rushed to the spot in the night, he said.
The body of the youth identified as Shyamo Mandavi bearing multiple injuries including on his neck, was recovered this morning from the forests, he said.
Besides, six villagers including a woman, who were injured after being beaten by ultras were admitted to local hospital by police.
However, some villagers who had sustained minor injuries in the incident, refrained from approaching the police as they were threatened with dire consequences by maoists if they reveal about the incident to policemen, the Additional Superintendent of Police said.
Notably, villagers of Burdikarka and some other villages of the region had recently opposed maoist activities and refused to support the ultras irking them, the ASP said.
Moreover, the murdered youth had submitted an application form for local police recruitment drive recently, he added.
Police said that through such incidents maoists wanted to create fear among people who are opposed to them.
The body of the youth has been sent for postmortem, the ASP said adding that a combing operation has been launched in the region to trace the assailants.