Maoists resorted to arson at the camp site of a road construction firm and shot dead the watchman in Odisha’s Kandhamal district on Saturday night.
The Maoist attacked at 2 a.m. at Patiamba under the Phulbani Sadar police station limits. The construction firm was involved in laying Sudrukumpa-Medikhol road under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. The watchman was identified as Rabindra Mallik.
According to police sources, the Maoists torched five vehicles parked at the camp site. The vehicles included three tractors, one roadroller and a mini-truck. The Maoists dragged away the watchman to the nearby forest and shot him dead.
Through handwritten bills left at the spot, the Kandhamal-Kalahandi-Boudh-Nayagarh division of the outlawed CPI(Maoist) organisation claimed the responsibility. Writing on the posters hinted that the Maoists had killed the watchman suspecting him to be a police informer.
In May 2018, five Maoists, including a woman cadre, were killed during an exchange of fire with the police. The Maoists had suspected that the construction firm owner and workers may have tipped-off the police about their presence in the area that led to the encounter.
The Maoists continue to oppose construction of roads under the PMGSY to inaccessible areas.
Following this incident, anti-Maoist operation by security forces was intensified in the area.
