Suspected Maoists on Tuesday killed three of the 20 villagers abducted by them on May 23 from Gopalpatnam police station area in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district.
According to the reports, 11 hostages, including a woman, were released by the rebels in the morning, while six others still remained untraced.
The police confirmed the reports of the killing of three villagers by the ultras.
“We have received reports that Maoists killed three villagers and set free 17 others held captive by them,” Bijapur district superintendent of police (SP) Avinash Mohanty told this newspaper.
Reports reaching the police said that three villagers were executed by the Maoists after they were sentenced to death by Jan Adalat (people’s court, set up by the rebels) “for being police informers”.
Later, the ultras handed over the bodies to their respective family members and forced them to cremate the dead in their presence.
“We have not received any complaint from the family members of the victims so far. But we have filed FIRs basing on the reports of the killings. We have begun investigations into all these cases”, Mr Mohanty said.
He said although the police had got reports about the release of other kidnapped villagers, efforts were still on to verify them. Search operations would be launched if these villagers were still found missing, he added.
The Maoists had earlier on May 23 forcibly taken away 20 people at gun points from the villages of Loded, Pamogal, Gorola and Rudraram “to try them in the Jan Adalat for being police informers”.
The families of the hostages, however, preferred not to approach the police fearing that the insurgents might harm their kin.
“Usually, the families, whose relatives were abducted and later executed by the Maoists, never report the matter to the police, apprehending backlash from the Maoists,” the police said.
In another incident at Bambrasol in the neighbouring Kanker district, Maoists on Tuesday set on fire three dumpers and one roller, being used for construction of the roads in the locality.