Hyderabad, Oct 11 (IANS) Maoists in Telangana’s Mulugu district killed a worker of ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) late on Saturday night, police said on Sunday.
Members of the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist stabbed to death Maduri Bheemeshwar (48) in front of his wife in Bokkapuram village in Venkatapuram mandal of the district bordering Chhattisgarh.
According to police, at least six armed Maoists carried out the attack around midnight.
Bheemeshwar’s wife told police that the attackers barged into their house after talking to him through the window. The victim knew one of the attackers and addressed him by his name Lakshman. He asked them to come the next morning for money.
She said two of the attackers pointed guns at him while one stood near her with a stick, warning her not to move.
“I pleaded with them to spare my husband but they showed no mercy. They beat him with sticks and then stabbed him,”she said.
After the killing, the Maoists left behind a letter. They alleged that Bheemeshwar, a pesticide trader, was eliminated for exploiting the people by using the power of the ruling party. They also alleged that he was using police to target those questioning him.
The Maoists demanded that the TRS and the BJP leaders in Vajedua area should immediately quit their posts. They also demanded the Centre and the state government to stop anti-Maoist operations immediately.
The slain worker’s body was shifted to government hospital at Venkatapuram for autopsy. Following the incident, police launched combing operations for the Maoists in the areas.
District Superintendent of Police Sangram Singh Patil said Maoists had demanded money from Bheemeshwar for party funds and since he did not meet their demands, they killed him.
The SP said Maoists were killing ordinary people for not giving them money or on the suspicion of being police informers. He said the extremists were also depriving tribals of the benefits of government schemes.
Mulugu is among the districts where the police stepped up the vigil in recent months to foil the attempts of Maoists to regroup themselves.
As Maoists are trying to regroup themselves in Telangana, police have heightened the vigil in the districts bordering Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.
Last month, eight Maoists were killed in four exchanges in the region this month. Five of them were gunned down in Bhadradri Kothagudem district, bordering Chhattisgarh.
–IANS
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