Suspected Maoists on Wednesday killed two village guards (chowkidars) at Katma village in Gajapati district, nearly 300 km from here, even as a group of CRPF jawans was engaged in a fierce gunbattle with the rebels in the Serenda forest in Sundergarh district.
According to the police, armed militants numbering around 40-50 came to Katma village and asked village guards Sadananda Singh and Dinabandhu Matri to come out of their home. As the two men obliged, they took them away and slit their throats.
A letter recovered from the spot said the two were given death punishment as they acted as police informers.
Written by Bansadhara Committee leader Azad alias Dona Keshava Rao, the letter warned similar punishment to others “who are working for the police”.
“The victims were taken to one end of the village where the rebels slit their throats. The two bled to death,” Gajapati superintendent of police, Sanjiv Arora said.
In the letter, the rebels also asked other village guards and special police officers (SPOs) operating in the area to resign form their jobs.
In yet another development, reports from Sundergarh district said a group of CRPF jawans, conducting combing operation in the Serenda forest, were engaged in a fierce gunbattle with the militants.
The reports suggested that the security personnel were caught in a well-laid out trap of the militants and finding it tough to contain the rebels who were firing from different corners.