Maoists killed villager for levy, Dumka SP says

DUMKA: Left-wing extremist group continue wreak havoc in the district even as police have launched a drive to build confidence among the people living in Maoist-hit pockets of the area.
Dumka SP Anoop T Mathew said Khannan Ansari alias Kutla Ansari of Sidpahari village under Masaliya police station was killed at the adjoining Makrampur haat (weekly market) on Wednesday in full public view to create terror among the villagers of the locality.Ansari was intercepted by a group of a dozen armed persons and was shot in the chest from point blank range. The culprits also beheaded decapitated the body and displayed the head around the haat. Eyewitnesses said the killers ordered the villagers to continue with their work before escaping.
Sources said that they had found some pamphlets at the spot and the rebels had accepted responsibility for Ansari's death and accused him of being involved in a prostitution racket. Mathew, however, said Maoist rebels also killed Ansari for levy as he used to supply construction material for government works. "Maoists had a dual purpose -creating terror among villagers and withholding developmental works" he said.
Masaliya police station area has for long been effected by the Maoist menace, but no such violence reported here in recent times. Wednesday's incident has, however, established that rebels have started registering their presence in Masaliya and adjoining police stations bordering the Red-hit Shikaripara and Raneswar police stations area on one side and Jamtara districts on the other.
Mathew said IRB jawans were engaged in combing operation to nab all the rebels involved in Ansari's killing. Police sources also hinted about the possibility of a separate group of Maoists operating in Masaliya and Tongra police station areas of the district apart from those active in Shikaripara, Kathikund and other adjoining pockets.