Maoist rebels on Sunday brutally killed six villagers, including a local sarpanch, by slitting their throats at Teregaon in Chhattisgarh’s Rajnandgaon district, suspecting them to be police informers, the police said.
The bodies of the victims, all in the age group of 30-45, were found near the neighbouring village of Uchapur on Sunday morning, Chhattisgarh director-general of police (DGP) Vishwa Ranjan told reporters here.
The deceased were abducted by a group of 50 armed rebels last week after conducting raids in each house in the village “looking for spies of police”.
The police had launched massive search operation in the area to rescue them, but without any success.
The bodies, with throats slit and faces disfigured, produced a gory sight, sending shock waves in the surrounding villages, the police said.
“All the victims, including the sarpanch Bhilsai Mandwai (36), were innocent and had nothing to do with the police. The ghastly killings reminded one of medieval theatre of cruelty,” a senior police officer told this newspaper, describing the brutal manner in which the villagers were murdered.
Security forces were yet to reach the site, located in the heavily mined forested region of Uchapur, Teregaon.
At least 29 policemen, including the Rajnandgaon district superintendent of police B.K. Choubey were killed at the same place in July last year when their vehicle was blown away by Naxal landmine.
In another incident, the rebels on Sunday set afire a jeep, two motor cycles and two construction machinery at Parseteligaon in Dantewada district, apparently to stop the ongoing road building work in the area.