Raipur: A group of armed Maoists on Wednesday killed a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former sarpanch, Kaka Arjun, in Chhattisgarh for defying their 'diktat' of leaving politics.
The gruesome killing also spoke volumes of the intent of Naxalites, who abandoned the body in the middle of a road with a warning note on it. According to the note left by the Naxals, they killed the leader because he ignored their warnings and remained actively involved in politics. Arjun became the fourth local BJP leader or functionary to be murdered by Maoists in Chhattisgarh this year.
Condemning the murder, Chhattisgarh BJP general secretary OP Chaudhary said the leader could not have been killed without the Congress's support and called the murder a "political killing". "This targetted political killings of senior BJP office bearer in Bastar division isn't possible without Congress' support to the Naxals. Looks like the party is hand in gloves with them to target the BJP leaders. It's highly unfortunate, I strongly condemn it".
Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh Congress spokesperson Dhananjay Singh Thakur said the killing was highly unfortunate and accused the BJP of politicising the matter. "It's highly unfortunate as to how BJP is trying to do politics over the killing of its leader. How can one forget that under the Raman Singh tenure in Chhattisgarh, Naxalism had spread massively? The Bhupesh Baghel government expresses condolences over the incident and stands by the family," said Dhananjay Singh Thakur.
The killing of the BJP leader came just two days after two persons including a policeman were suspected to be killed by Maoists in Bastar’s Bijapur district on Tuesday, an official said. Police said the first incident took place on Monday morning at Patakutru village where the deceased assistant constable Sanjay Kumar Vedja was on medical leave. In a similar incident, a 45-year-old man was allegedly abducted and killed by Maoists on suspicion of being a police informer in Bijapur district. Dhurva Dharmaiyya, a resident of Aaipenta village was found dead by some locals on a hill on Monday.
