Maoists kill ex-village head for corruption

RAIPUR - A former village head abducted two days ago was executed by Maoists Thursday in front of villagers in Chhattisgarh after being charged with financial irregularities, officials said.

Gulab Singh was kidnapped Tuesday from Narayanpur district in Bastar region. On Thursday, the Maoists convened a ‘jan adalat’ or people’s court where dozens of locals accused him of corruption.

Police said the kangaroo court awarded the death penalty to Singh. Maoists then thrashed him and finally shot him dead.

Police came to know about the incident hours later. Villagers said the killing had caused a scare in the area.

The tribal-dominated Bastar region is about 40,000 sq km big and is split into five districts: Bijapur, Bastar, Dantewada, Narayanpur and Kanker.