Village Chief In Chhattisgarh's Dantewada Hacked To Death By Naxals Ahead Of Panchayat Elections
A former sarpanch and candidate for upcoming panchayat elections was killed in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada.
A former sarpanch was hacked to death by Naxalites as he was contesting in the upcoming panchayat elections in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district.
On Thursday night, a group of unidentified men had stormed into the home of Joga Barse, 52, in Aranpur village. He was hacked with an axe in front of his family, according to a PTI report. A team from Aranpur police station rushed to the spot after they were alerted. Barse’s body was then sent for post-mortem.
While the police found no Maoist pamphlets were recovered from the spot, prima facie evidence suggests that Naxalites were responsible for the murder.
As per PTI, Barse, a resident of Sarpanch Para locality in the village had served as sarpanch of Aranpur village panchayat in the past. His wife is the incumbent village head. According to PTI, the victim has been contesting for the same position in the upcoming panchayat elections, which are scheduled to be held in the state on February 17, 20, and 23. Dantewada district will also conduct panchayat elections in three phases.
Barse was previously associated with the Communist Party of India (CPI) before joining the Congress in 2019. While panchayat elections are not contested on party lines, he was backed by Congress. On February 4, Naxalites hacked a 30-year-old man to death in the same Aranpur area. The previous night, they killed two men, including a former colleague, in neighbouring Bijapur district.
Earlier, on January 26, a 41-year-old man was murdered by Naxalites in the Bhairamgarh area of Bijapur, accused of leaking information about the outlawed CPI (Maoist). Similarly, on January 16, a 48-year-old man was killed in the Mirtur area of Bijapur on suspicion of being a police informer. According to police reports, 68 civilians lost their lives last year in separate incidents of Naxal violence across the Bastar region, which includes seven districts, including Bijapur.
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