150 armed naxals kill three villagers
The investigators said that the Maoists also put up a banner stating the motive of the killings.
Mumbai: The Maoists in Gadchiroli shot dead three villagers on Tuesday on suspicion that they were pa-ssing on tip-offs to police that led to a massive anti-Maoist operation that left 40 naxals dead in 2018.
The cold-blooded murders took place in the wee hours of Tuesday and the attackers executed the trio after dragging them out of their homes, the police said.
The trio was murdered by a group of around 150 armed naxals from Chha-ttisgarh who entered Kas-nasur village near Kosf-undi phata in Bhamragad taluka. The Maoists gunned down Kanna Madavi, Malu Madavi and Lalsu Kudyeti.
“The group dragged them out of their houses and shot them dead. They suspected that the trio had informed the police about their presence in forests, which resulted into the Kasnur-Tumir-gunda operation in April 2018,” said a police officer.
The investigators said that the Maoists also put up a banner stating the motive of the killings. The banner stated that they were avenging the April 2018 deaths of their comrades.
Extra forces have been put up at Bhamragad, located on the border of Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh. The investigators are probing to identify the attackers.
The police said that this was the first attack on villagers in Gadchiroli district after Maoist Nambala Keshav Tao alias Basav-raju took over the reins.