Maoist leader Azad being taken to Bhubaneswar special jail in Jharpara from Nayagarh jail on Monday. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, June 13: Maoists today gunned down a police informer in Malkangiri even as one of their top leaders, Duna Keshav Rao alias Azad, had been shifted from Nayagarh to the Jharpada jail here in view of security requirements.

Sources said about a dozen armed Maoists, including some women, barged into the house of Bhima Kabasi in Pitakonda village under Balimela police station in the wee hours and dragged him out as the terrorised family members watched silently.

“They took him away warning the villagers not to follow them. Later, his body was discovered at a lonely spot about 3km from the village. They apparently killed him on the suspicion of being a police informer,” said an official. This is the third such incident in the district in the past few months.

Sources said the rebels were deliberately targeting police informers, as they wanted to demoralise the police and terrorise the people at the same time.

“The district is such that the police and the BSF, camping there for the anti-Maoist operation, cannot move without help of the informers. The policemen have been trying their best to protect the informers but the Maoists appear to be outsmarting them,” said an officer.

Malkangiri district has been in focus since abduction and subsequent release of former collector R. Vineel Krishna by the Maoists in February. The collector, who was being sent on a central deputation now, was released after the government had reached an agreement with the three interlocutors picked by the rebels.

However, with the Orissa government having gone on the offensive in the wake of his release, the Maoists have been accusing it of going back on the accord. The agreement included, among other things, the assurance of a complete halt to operation against the rebels and release of tribals languishing in jails on frivolous charges.

On the other hand, Azad, who had been taken on a three-day remand by the police on June 2 following his arrest in the capital, was today moved from the Nayagarh jail to the Jharpada here amid tight security.

The rebel leader, who has been in jail in connection with his involvement in the 2008 attack on Nayagarh town, is also facing several other charges, including the murder of VHP leader Swami Laxmananand Saraswati and his four disciples at Jalapseta ashram in Kandmal district three years ago.

Though the crime branch has already filed a chargesheet against him and six other Maoists in connection with the Saraswati murder case, police might need to interrogate him further in other cases.