OST Bureau
Malkangiri, Feb 6:

The district police have claimed the involvement of the Maoists in the murder of a tribal youth, whose body was found near in Sinabaram forest near his village Sarukubedha under Kudumulugumma block under Chitrakonda police station limits on Thursday morning.
Maoist
Briefing newsmen here, Malkangiri SP Akhileswar Singh said the deceased, identified as Sadanand Hantala (25), a community service provider for Odisha Tribal Empowerment and Livelihood Programme (OTELP) under Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA), had gone to the cut-off area of Malkangiri district, with two workers of Watershed Support Services And Activities Network (WASSAN), an NGO, to oversee the OTELP work on Tuesday when they were kidnapped by a group of armed Maoists.

“While the red rebels released the two NGO workers later in the day, they killed Sadanand late on Wednesday night”, the SP said, adding that the Maoists might have killed Hantala as they have been protesting development works in the cut-off area of the district.

He also informed that the Maoists of the cut-off area have also threatened the junior engineer of Kudumulugumma block Rajendra, who they have branded a police informer, of dire consequences if he did not stop development work in the area.

The incident has triggered panic in the area as the government employees, including the panchayat extension officer, junior engineer, revenue inspector and health workers of seven panchayats, have expressed their unwillingness to participate in the ongoing development work in these areas.