Naxals allegedly gunned down three persons, including the vice-president of Lloyd metals and a police patil, in Nender village in Etapalli tehsil of the Gadchiroli district on Wednesday night. No arrests have been made so far.
Superintendent Suvez Haque of the Gadchiroli district said, “All the three have been shot in the head. They have at least one bullet injury. The Naxals reside in the Surajgarh mountain. The Naxals have informants in the village who alert them on police movements, and other inputs.”
Public relations officer to the superintendent, sub-inspector D. Joshi said, “The incident took place between 6 pm and 12 pm. The three have suffered bullet injuries and their bodies were found lying on the road. It is not clear if they were murdered there or elsewhere. We have sent their bodies for an autopsy. We are trying to collect more information, but the villagers are not cooperating.” When asked what weapons were used by the Naxals, Mr Joshi replied, “It will be clear after the autopsy report is out.”
One of the deceased, Jaspal Singh Dhillion (60) is vice-president with the Lloyd Metals company. The steel company has got the contract to carry out mining work in Nender village and the Naxals were opposed to the mining.
When asked if the three had gone there to “negotiate” with the Naxals, Mr Haque replied, “We can’t say that firmly. The mining work will not start for about two years.”
The second deceased, Mallikarujun Reddy (45) is a contractor with the Hemlata Minerals in Hyderabad. Lloyd Metals had outsourced their work to Radhe Minerals in Nagpur, which in turn outsourced it to Hemlata Minerals. The third deceased Raju Sadmek (65) is a police patil from neighbouring Surjagad village.