Maoists shot the watchman after suspecting him to be a police informer. (Representational)
Maoists shot a watchman, suspecting him to be a police informer, in Odisha's Kandhamal district, police said today. The incident happened at a road construction site at Patiamba late on Saturday night.
Police said the Maoists also burned three tractors, a road roller and a truck at the construction site. The construction of the road was being carried out under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).
The Maoists then took the watchman, Rabindra Mallick, to the nearby forest and then shot him dead, police added.
Police said the Maoists put up leaflets near the site that mentioned that the attack was carried out by the Kandhamal-Kalahandi-Boudh-Nayagarh.
It is a division of the banned outfit CPI (Maoist).
Operations of the security forces have been intensified in the area following the incident, police said.
At least four Maoists, including a woman, were killed in the same area in May 2018 in a police ambush.