A tribal village headman has been killed by suspected Maoists on suspicion of being a police informer in Koraput district, the police said today.
The headman has been identified as 60 year-old Radhaya Sirika, a resident of Siriguda village under Maoist-hit Narayanpatna block in the district.
Though the modus operandi of the murder is similar to that of the Maoists, the police was yet to confirm Maoist hand in it.
"The assailants had slit the throat of the victim with a sharp-edged weapon which the Maoists generally do to eliminate their targets. However, as no Maoist poster or banner was spotted near the body we are yet to establish Maoist hand in it," SP (Koraput) Charan Singh Meena said.
"We have recovered the body and investigation is on. Reason behind the killing will be known once we complete our inquiry," he added.
According to sources, a village puja was organised at Siriguda on Thursday night where all family members of the victim were present. But, Sirika had gone to the nearby village for some work and on early Friday local villagers spotted the body of the village headman lying in a pool of blood few meters away from the village.
The police claimed that the deceased was never a police informer and he might have been killed for some other reason which is under investigation.
"We had never received any anti-naxal information from the deceased. He was not our informer. Generally, after killing someone the Maoists use it to exhibit their presence and to terrorise villagers by putting posters near the body. But here nothing such has happened. However, as it is Naxal-hit area, we are investigating this angle also," the SP said.
