Maoists kill ward member candidate

KORAPUT: Stepping up their call to boycott the ensuing three-tier panchayat polls, the Maoists gunned down a ward member candidate reportedly for disobeying their diktat and filing nomination paper in Malkangiri district late on Thursday.

The deceased has been identified as Dasu Durua, 40, who was declared elected uncontested for the post of ward member in Bara village in Kartanpalli panchayat under Mathili police limits.

According to sources, around 10 to 15 armed Maoists swooped down on the home of Durua at Bara village, around 75 km from Malkangiri, bordering Chhattisgarh around Thursday midnight and fired on him from a close range killing him.

Police said Durua had never complained of any Maoist threat. Maoists belonging to the Dharaba division are responsible for the murder, said police.

Source: timesofindia