Bhubaneswar : A former village council member was shot dead Saturday in Odisha s Malkangiri district by Maoists, police said.
About 20-25 armed rebels dragged out 45-year-old Gangadhar Chalana from his home at Atalaguda village, about 650 km from state capital Bhubaneswar, and shot him dead. Chalana was a former village council member.
Locals and family members saw his body and informed the police. "They killed him suspecting him to be a police informer," a police official told IANS.
Maoists are active in more than half of the area of the state. The district of Malkangiri is considered their stronghold.