Maoists killed a village panchayat member, but released two others after abducting them from Mathili area of Odisha's Malkangiri during the state police chief visit to the district.
The body of Budha Dharua, naib Sarpanch of Mahupadar village, was found on a forest road this morning with his throat slit, Malkangiri Superintendent of Police Akhileswar Singh said.
Armed ultras had abducted Dharua and two others from Mahupadar village on Wednesday night. While Dharua was believed to have been killed last night on the suspicion of being a police informer, the other two -- Buduram Nayak and Mansai Karla - were released by the red rebels.
The killing was suspected to have been committed by Maoists from neighbouring Chhattisgarh who apparently suspected the naib sarpanch to be passing on information about rebel activities to the police, sources said.
The killing coincided with the visit of state DGP Prakash Mishra to the Maoist affected district and other places in the region.
This incident was second of its kind in last 15 days.
On May 25, the rebels abducted three persons of Kyang area under Mathili police station and killed two of them and freed one.
