“Maoists have killed a 41-year-old man in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district, claiming he was leaking information about the outlawed movement,” police said on Monday, January 27, 2025.
“As per preliminary information, unidentified Maoists attacked Bhadru Sodhi, a resident of Keshamundi Village under Bhairamgarh police station limits, with an axe at his house on Sunday (January 26, 2025) evening following which he died on the spot,” a police official here said.
“After being alerted, a police team rushed to the spot on Monday (January 27, 2025) morning and the body was sent for post-mortem,” he said.
“A pamphlet issued by the Bhairamgarh area committee of Maoists was found at the spot in which the deceased was accused of being a traitor,” he said.
“The Maoists also claimed in the pamphlet that Sodhi was active in the anti-Maoist civil militia Salwa Judum movement, which was disbanded in 2011, and indulged in leaking information pertaining to the outlawed CPI (Maoist),” the official said.
“A search operation has been launched in the area to trace the assailants,” he added.
Maoists are on the back foot due to the continuous anti-Maoist operations being run in the district, and they have also lost their areas of strongholds following the establishment of new camps of security forces in their core areas.
Maoists have been venting out their frustration on the innocent tribal villagers and targeting them by accusing them of being traitors and police informers,” the official said.
On January 16, a 48-year-old man was killed by Maoists in Mirtur area of Bijapur on suspicion of being a police informer.
According to police, 68 civilians were killed last year in separate incidents of Maoist violence in the Bastar region comprising seven districts, including Bijapur.
Published - January 27, 2025 12:06 pm IST
