Jamshedpur: A group of suspected naxals shot dead a 45-year-old man at Singhpura weekly bazaar under Gudabanda police station area in Ghatshila sub-division, about 90 kilometre away from the district headquarters on Friday.
The deceased was identified as Krishna Sao, a resident of Gudabanda.
Police said the Maoist rebels suspected to be members of Kanhu Munda squad of Gudabanda shot dead the trader in the crowded marketplace. The sudden firing led to a ruckus in the weekly haat. The rebels soon escaped to the nearby woods.
Police sources said the trader was killed by the rebels on charges of being a police informer.
Shortly after the incident a police team came from the Gudabanda police station and took the body in their possession. Soon, CRPF jawans reached the scene and launched a combing operation in the jungle where the rebels had fled.
Contacted, deputy superintendent of police (DSP), Mosabani, Bachan Dev Kujur said that a squad of four armed men raided a make-shift shop at Singhpura weekly market around 4.30 pm and pumped several bullets in the victim’s head and chest from close range.
“We suspect the culprits were the members of Kanhu Munda squad which is active in Gudabanda area. We are carrying out a combing operation in the adjoining forest,” said Kujur.
The DSP said the exact reason behind the attack could not be found out immediately, but the police took it to be a handiwork of the Naxalites, adding that the investigation was on.