Villager hacked to death by Naxals in Dantewada

A villager was hacked to death allegedly by Naxals on suspicion he was a police informer in Chhattisgarhs Dantewada district, police said on Friday.

The body of Budhram Tati with his throat slit was found near Perpa village in the Kirandul police station area on Thursday evening, a senior police official said.

A Maoist leaflet recovered from the spot stated that "whoever works as a police informer for money will meet the same fate" in 'jan adalat' (Naxals kangaroo court), he said.

Denying Tatis association with police, the officer said the victim was a native of Tikanpal village in the Kirandul area, located around 400km away from the state capital Raipur, and was working as a labourer.

A search operation has been launched in the area to trace the assailants, he added.

A similar incident was reported in the area on September 14 when another villager Mirya Manjal was killed by Naxals who suspected him to be a police informer.

Security has been tightened in the forests of Dantewada ahead of the September 23 bypoll in the Naxal- affected assembly constituency.

The bypoll in Dantewada, reserved for the Scheduled Tribe (ST) community, has been necessitated following the death of sitting BJP legislator Bhima Mandavi in a Naxal attack in April this year.