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Raipur, May 17: Two bikers this evening shot dead a security guard outside a Chhattisgarh minister’s house, took his rifle and sped away, making police suspect the hand of Maoists.
Lata Usendi, the women and child development minister, was not at home then.
Till late tonight she had not returned from a tour of nearby villages.
Kondagaon, where the attack happened, is about 250km from Raipur and has heavy presence of Maoists, who are known to take away arms and ammunition after killing security personnel.
The police said the way Ratanlal Netam was shot dead and his rifle taken away pointed to the involvement of the rebels.
“Two persons on a bike approached the residence of the minister and shot the security guard posted at the gate,” Ramniwas, the additional director-general of police, said.
Netam was armed with an Insas rifle.
Usendi’s home is located in a residential area of Kondagaon, which was made a separate district in January.
The house is near a bus stand and was crowded when the assailants shot Netam.
A police officer in Kondagaon said other security guards rushed to the gate where Netam was standing, but could not shoot at the bikers as the area was crowded.
A hunt was launched in the town tonight and the police have sealed all the exit points.
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