Maoists kill 32-year-old tribal in Gadchiroli, claim he was a police informer: SP
Gadchiroli SP Neelotpal said the Maoists executed Dinesh Gawde after branding him as a police informer
NAGPUR: A 32-year-old tribal from a Gadchiroli village was found dead on Thursday, a day after he was abducted by suspected Maoists and accused of being a police informer, police said.
Dinesh Gawde was abducted from Morkhande village on Wednesday which falls under the jurisdiction of Chotbetiya police station on Wednesday. He was killed around midnight and his body was found near Morkhandi village on Thursday morning, said Gadchiroli superintendent of police Neelotpal.
Neelotpal said the Maoists executed Dinesh Gawde after branding him as a police informer. The senior police officer said this was not true and that according to a preliminary investigation, Dinesh, a resident of Aheri, was in Morkhandi to play volleyball.
He was abducted while returning to his native village, Aheri.
“We have cordoned off the area, and a search operation has been launched to apprehend the Maoists responsible for the killing of the innocent tribal, Gawde,” he added.
To be sure, Gawde was abducted hours before chief minister Eknath Shinde visited the tribal district on Wednesday to participate in Diwali Milan programme with police personnel serving in the district and a “Bhai Dooj” programme with women police personnel.
Shinde, who was earlier the guardian minister of the district, flew down to the Pipli Burgi police station on the Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh border to show solidarity with the security forces fighting the armed guerrillas.
Shinde also pledged to ramp up logistical support, infrastructure, and other benefits for security personnel in the conflict zone. “This police station on the state border will ensure better security for the local population,” said the chief minister, commending the efforts of the C-60 commandos of Gadchiroli police, an elite anti-Maoist squad, and other security personnel in the area.