Suspected Naxalites Kill Congress Leader In Chhattisgarh

A local Congress leader was killed by suspected Naxals in Bijapur.

Bijapur: A local Congress leader was murdered allegedly by suspected Naxals in the Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh, police said on Saturday.

An official attached to the Bijapur police said that the killing took place in Usur village. "A group of unidentified persons attacked Tirupati Bhandari. Bhandari was attacked with a sharp weapon. He was killed on the spot. Police personnel attached to the Usur police station rushed to the spot and took the body. The body has been sent for post-mortem to a local government hospital," the police official added.

"It is probably an act by the Naxals. We are probing all the angles of the murder, which happened at around 4 PM. The deceased worked at a ration shop. He was distributing rice when the unidentified people attacked him," the police official added.

Bhandari was the general secretary of the Usur bloc of the Congress. He had also been theSarpanch (village head) of the Usur village. He was influential person in the local politics. In the last one year, Naxals have killed at least nine Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders.