Sharmili Mallick

Malkangiri: With the declaration of dates for the upcoming general polls in Odisha, incidents of Naxal violence were reported from two separate places of the State today.

The Maoists killed a relative of a road construction contractor at Kukurkunda village under Mathili police limits of Malkangiri district. The deceased Gupta Swain was working as supervisor at the construction site.

Sources said a group of Maoists belonging to Bastar division of Chhattisgarh reached the village yesterday and mercilessly thrashed Swain and later slit his throat. The red rebels also attacked other labourers present at the spot.

They also torched two vehicles – a JCB and a Hywa truck engaged in the road construction from Kukurkunda to Temrupali under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), reports said.

The Maoists also left posters on the spot issuing warning against public construction works in the area. Police have initiated a probe into the incident.

In another incident, a group of miscreants suspected to be members of Peoples Liberation Front of India (PLFI), a Naxal outfit, torched a road roller engaged in construction work at Sanramloi village under Bisra tehsil of Sundergarh district. Officials of Bisra Police reached the spot and recovered a letter which issued threat to the road contractor.

Police officials of Odisha and five other neighbouring states had recently held a high-level meeting to discuss measures to effectively combat the Left wing Extremism threat for smooth conduct of elections.

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