Maoists barge in forest trekker’s house, beats him to death on alleged suspicion of him being an informer

The violent incident of killing of forest trekker Deva Prajapati occurred in Dauna village under Netarhat police station of Latehar in Jharkhand when the around a dozen armed cadres of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA), armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) barged into the house of Deva Prajapati (45) and mercilessly beat him to death, alleging him for being a police informer

Deva Prajapati was working as a daily wage trekker at Palamu Tiger Reserve on a contractual basis and he was beaten to death on the intervening night of July 19. His work involved patrolling the forest region of Bareysanr range.

Maoists Issue Warning to the Locals

According to the reports the Maoist after beating Prajapati to death also issued a stern warning for the locals on the walls of the deceased house. The Maoists wrote that those who work as an informer will be killed. The police on the other hand is speculating the involvement of Chotu Khaiwar gang in the brutal murder and has initiated a probe into the matter.

Surge in targeted killings of Civilians by the Maoists in border areas of Chattisgarh

It is to be noted that the Maoist-affected regions bordering Chattisgarh have already witnessed a surge in the targeted killings of civilians as more than two dozen civilians have so far been killed by the Ultras in different regions of the tribal dominated state in the last one year alone.

Most of the civilians who have been killed so far by the Maoist hailed from the marginalised sections of the society. They were identified as soft targets by Maoists and the objective was to instill a sense of fear among the locals.

It is pertinent to mention here that most of the civilians who were brutally murdered by the Maoist in Chhattisgarh were alleged to be working as an informer by the Ultras, striking a resemblance with the recent targeted killing in Netarhat.

Telangana state committee member held with associate

In another development related to the Maoists, a joint team of Central Reserve Police Forces (CRPF) and Telangana police nabbed two cadres of the banned CPI Maoist in Cherla of Bhadradri Kothagudem on July 20.

As per the reports the Cherla police along with the CRPF, during a vehicle check exercise arrested a senior Maoist leader and member of the Telangana state committee of the CPI Maoist, Thota Seetaramaiha along with his companion as P Raj Kumar near Cherla police station.

It’s been reported that the duo were going to Hyderabad to encourage recruitment of cadres on the instructions of a senior leader of the Central Committee (CC) of the Maoist outfit. Security personnel also seized a revolver along with Rs 3.4 lakhs in cash from the duo. It’s been revealed that the duo were in constant touch with the CC member Chandranna and were following his instructions.

During the primary investigation the duo also revealed that the state committee member Seetaramaiha, a resident of Aswapuram Mandal of Kothagudem had recently arrived in Cherla from Chhattisgarh. Thota was active in the Maoist outfit for more than four decades and considered close to the top brass of Maoist in Telangana and bordering Chhattisgarh. A reward of Rs one lakh on Rajkumar and a whopping bounty of Rs 20 lakh has already been placed on Seetaramaiha head, informed police.