Dantewada, Chhattisgarh:
A group of Maoists stormed into the house of Congress leader Avadesh Gautam in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh early on Thursday morning and brutally killed his 15-year-old brother-in-law and an associate.
This is being seen as a retaliatory strike by the Maoists after one of their top leaders, C Rajakumar alias Azad, was killed in an alleged 'fake' encounter in Andhra Pradesh last week.
The Maoists spared the women in the house. They left a large number of pamphlets and petrol bombs.
Avadesh Gautam is a close associate of Mahindra Karma, known for initiating the anti-Naxal Salwa Judum movement in Chhattisgarh.
The attack comes on the second day of the two-day bandh called by the Maoists in the five Naxal-hit states. The rebels have called the bandh to protest against the killing of Azad.
There has been a spate of Maoist attacks across the five states in the past two days.
Earlier on Wednesday night, the Maoists torched a police station in Sukma village in Dantewada.
There were also reports of series of attacks on railway tracks and stations in Dhanbad and Latehar areas of Jharkhand through the night. There were, however, no casualties in these attacks.