Former Salwa Judum leader`s brother killed by Naxals

Brother of a former Salwa Judum leader was killed by suspected Naxalites in Maoist-hit Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh, police said on Monday.

Raipur: Brother of a former Salwa Judum leader was killed by suspected Naxalites in Maoist-hit Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh, police said on Monday.

Banshilal Gota (40), elder brother of Chinnaram Gota, who was a leader of the erstwhile anti-Naxalite movement Salwa Judum, was killed by suspected ultras in Somanpali village under Farsegarh police station, around 350 km away from the state capital, a senior official told a news agency over phone.

Security forces were immediately dispatched to the spot, the official said, adding, Bashilal`s body was brought to Farsegarh police station.

"Prima facie it appears that the victim was strangled to death, but the exact cause of death would be ascertained only after the autopsy," the official added.

According to villagers, a group of naxalities stormed into the victim`s house last night and dragged him out of his home.

He was then thrashed with lathis and was taken away.

However, he was found dead in the morning, the official said, adding, Banshilal was not associated with the movement.

Notably, a former Janpad member and prominent Salwa Judum leader, Chinnaram, was gunned down by Maoists in Bijapur in December last year. A police jawan, who was guarding him, had also lost his life in the incident.

Salwa Judum, an anti-Maoist civil militia, was disarmed and disbanded in the state following the Supreme Court order declaring as illegal and unconstitutional the deployment of tribal youths as Special Police Officers in the fight against the Maoist insurgency.

PTI

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