Contractor shot dead by Maoists in Odisha

Two suspected Maoists shot a civil contractor from point-blank range at a local market in Odisha's Kalahandi district. The assailants set his motorbike on fire before fleeing from the location.

Bhawanipatna (Odisha): Suspected Maoists gunned down a civil contractor near a village market in Odisha's Kalahandi district on Sunday, allegedly for being a police informer.

"The incident occurred at Malipada village in Lanjigarh block when Rajendra Sahu had gone to the weekly market. Two assailants shot him from point-blank range and set his motorbike on fire before fleeing from the scene," a police officer said.

A handwritten note in Odia signed by the Rayagada Area Committee of the CPI (Maoist) said that Sahu was killed for being a police informer. Kalahandi Superintendent of Police, B Gangadhar, said that a combing operation has been launched to nab the accused.