Gadchiroli, February 2: Suspected Maoists shot dead two villagers on Saturday in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district on suspicion that they were police informers. Reports inform that at least seven people have been killed in the last fifteen days over suspicion that their tip-off to police led to the killing of ultras last year. On January 23, the Maoists shot dead three villagers in Gadchiroli over suspicion that they leaked information to police which led to the killing of 40 ultras in a massive operation in April 2018. According to a PTI report, the armed Naxals from Chhattisgarh entered Kasnasur village and went to the houses of Malu Madavi, Kanna Madavi and Lalsu Kudyeti and killed them. Prior to this, the Maoists had also abducted several villagers.

On January 31, the Naxals set ablaze vehicles in several Gadchiroli villages including Kurkheda, Korchi and Potegaon. Security has been beefed up in the Maoist-affected areas of Maharashtra and adjoining states. Maharashtra: 4 Including School Students Killed, 10 Injured as Bus-Truck Collide in Gadchiroli; Angry Locals Torch Vehicles.

In April 2018, over 40 suspected Maoists were shot dead by security forces in two separate encounters in the area. According to reports, while 34 Maoists were killed in the jungles of Rela-Kasnasur on April 22, the rest were eliminated in a forested area near Nainer the next day. According to reports, two senior leaders of CPI(Maoist) — Srinu alias Srikanth and Sainath alias Dolesh Madhi Atram — were among those killed.

It was during that time that posters were put up by left-wing extremists across south Gadchiroli claiming that they would avenge the “murder” of their comrades as it was a violation of human rights”. The Maoists also vowed to punish the 'traitors' who facilitated the police operations.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 02, 2019 12:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).