Midnapore, Nov. 1: Suspected Maoists today shot dead a member of the People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities, apparently because he had not met their extortion demands.

Police officials said the killing of schoolteacher Anil Mahato, 58, in West Midnapore’s Salboni suggested that the rebels were finding it tough to extort money in Lalgarh, 40km away, because of the presence of the joint forces there.

It is not unusual for the guerrillas to demand money from teachers despite their modest salaries. Sleuths who had quizzed a treasurer of the Committee earlier this month said Rs 80 lakh used to be collected a month from Lalgarh and Binpur at the height of the tribal movement. Of this, Rs 15 lakh came from teachers.

Mahato, who was from Bhutiashol village and taught at the local Madhyamik Siksha Kendra, was a CPM member and a panchayat pradhan in the 1990s. He had left the party 10 years ago.

Ashok Mahato, Mahato’s son-in-law, said the Maoists had demanded Rs 1,000 in September and Rs 2,000 in October. “About 10 days ago, my father-in-law told them he wouldn’t be able to pay. But this morning, he told us he would pay to buy peace,” Ashok said.

A police officer said the Maoists “are extorting money from whoever they can”.

“Earlier, they never did so from Committee members.”

West Midnapore police chief Manoj Verma said the “Maoists need a steady flow of cash to maintain their new recruits in areas like Lalgarh and Salboni and to buy arms and provisions”.