Bhubaneswar:
A policeman, who was abducted by the Maoists in Odisha today, has been killed. The police have recovered his body. 42-years-old Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Kruparam Majhi was abducted near Lodra in Nuapada district around noon today.
The ASI was on his way to a CRPF base camp near Sunabeda sanctuary on the Odisha-Chhatisgarh border when a group of armed Maoists abducted him.
Mr Majhi, posted in the Dharambandha police outpost, was heading for the CRPF camp on his bike escorting a water tanker when a group of armed Maoists abducted him. Sub-Divisional Police Officer Prafulla Patra said, Mr Majhi's partner, constable Debanarayan Sahu, was asked to leave and the ASI was taken at gunpoint by the Maoists into the forest.
Odisha DGP Manmohan Praharaj said the ASI, who was in civil clothes and unarmed, was stopped and dragged to a nearby field by the Maoists. The body was recovered by the police Later at a place between Bharuamunda and Lodra, barely five kilometres from the spot where he was kidnapped. It bore three bullet marks. Praharaj said the body of the ASI will be cremated with full state honour.
However, the motive behind such brutal killing is not known yet. The 42 year old Majhi had been appointed as the ASI in-charge of the Maoist-affected Dharmbandha police area in Nuapada only 4 months ago.
Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik who described the incident as barbaric has announced that Mr Majhi's family will get a compensation of Rs. 18 lakh including Rs 10 lakh towards insurance cover and a government job for the next of kin.
The killing comes close on the heels of kidnap of the two Italians in Kandhamal district and BJD MLA Jhina Hikaka in Koraput district by two different Maoist groups. All three were subsequently released unharmed.
The Maoists camping along the Odisha-Chhattisgarh border were under great pressure following intensive combing operations in the area over the past three days and may have resorted to this to ensure all such operations come to a halt.