Midnapore, July 30: Maoists dragged a CPM leader out of his home in West Midnapore in the wee hours today and shot him dead in a marketplace.

Police said the killing of Sagar Masanto is the first Maoist attack in the village of Makli in Goaltore, which is about 35km from Lalgarh.

SP Manoj Verma said: “We are investigating which Maoist squad did it.”

Sagar’s wife Bidya said the family was asleep around 1am when some people with guns yelled for Sagar outside their two-storeyed house.

“My husband did not respond so they kicked the door open and held my in-laws at gunpoint,” said Bidya. Sagar, a member of CPM’s Amlashuli local committee, was left with little choice but to surrender.

“They dragged him towards the marketplace,” said Bidya. Half an hour later, two shots rang out. Villagers found Sagar’s body in the marketplace.

In another incident, Moloy Mahato, a CPM branch committee member in Salboni, was abducted by Maoists. The family was having dinner when some people called Moloy. “He went out with them but did not return,” Moloy’s father said.