Naxalites kill two former village heads in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur

Naxalites have killed two former heads village panchayats in separate incidents in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district, police said on Thursday.

Naxalites in their pamphlets claimed former sarpanch Suklu Parsa was a BJP worker and accused the other deceased, Sukhram Avlam, of helping cops in setting up a police camp.

Parsa was killed on Wednesday in Bhairamgarh police station limits, while Avlam was murdered the same day in Naimed area, an official here said.

With these incidents, Naxalites have killed at least 55 persons so far this year in the state's Bastar division comprising seven districts, including Bijapur, according to police.

Notably, nine BJP leaders were killed between January 2022 and April 2023 in separate incidents in the division.

As per preliminary information, Naxalites abducted Parsa from Biriyabhumi village on Monday and killed him on Wednesday, the official said.

Police were alerted after Naxalites dumped the body near the village on Wednesday night.

In a pamphlet found at the spot, Bhairamgarh area committee of Maoists claimed the responsibility for killing Parsa and said he was active as a worker of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the official said.

Naxalites also threatened BJP workers in the area with dire consequences and asked them to quit the party, he said.

The body of Sukhram Avlam was found on a road connecting Kader and Kaika villages under Naimed police station limits on Wednesday night, the official said.

The police on Thursday morning received information that Avlam was abducted and killed by Naxalites following which a team of security personnel rushed to the area, he said.

As per preliminary information, Avlam, who lived in Bijapur town, had gone to his village Kader for farm related work.

When he was heading to Kaika from Kader for some personal work on Wednesday evening, two unidentified persons intercepted him and took him inside a forest, the official said.

The body was found on the road at night, he said.

A pamphlet was found at the spot in which Gangaloor area committee of Naxalites accused Avlam of supporting police in setting up a camp, the official said.

Search operations have been launched in both the areas to trace the assailants, the police said.