A former deputy sarpanch of a village was killed by suspected Naxals in an insurgency-hit pocket of Chhattisgarh's Mahasamund district, police said today.
Khejan Sonwani (45) was shot dead late last night at his house in Khairat Kala village under Komakhan police station limits, Mahasamund Additional Superintendent of Police Rakesh Bhatt told PTI over phone.
As per preliminary information, three armed ultras stormed into his house in Khairat Kala, located around 125 kms away from here, on Chhattisgarh-Odisha border and pumped bullets into him, he said.
Soon after getting the information this morning, a police team was rushed to the spot and the victim's body was sent for postmortem, he added.
The assailants haddropped some pamphlets in which they claimed Sonwani was acting as a mediator in 'tendu' leaves procurement in forests of Chhatisgarh-Odisha border and siphoned off money in the deals, the ASP said.
Besides, they also claimed that the victim was acting as a police informer, he added.
A case has been registered in this connection, the ASP said, adding that efforts were on to trace the assailants.
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