The victim, Sideshwar Singh, was gunned down about one-and-a-half kilometre away from the forest dak bungalow, Sub-Divisional Police Officer (Chakradharpur), Ajay Kerketta said.
Singh was living alone in the dak bungalow.
A police team that went to the spot found his belongings littered around the floor of the bungalow, he said.
Asked whether involvement of naxal group was a possibility, Kerketta said it would be difficult to comment immediately as the timber mafia could also be responsible for the killing.