Maoists kill former village head in Telangana

A police officer said a letter recovered near Korsa Ramesh’s body said he was killed after being tried at a “people’s court” for allegedly working as a double agent

A former village head from Telangana’s Mulugu district was found dead in Kothapalli forests on Wednesday, days after Maoists abducted him on Monday, police said.

A representational image. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A police officer said a letter recovered near Korsa Ramesh’s body said he was killed after being tried at a “people’s court” for allegedly working as a double agent. Maoist’s Venkatapuram-Vajedu Area Committee secretary Shantha purportedly wrote the letter, a copy of which HT has seen.

Ramesh’s widow, Korsa Rajitha, earlier told local reporters her husband worked as a driver while appealing to Maoists to release him unharmed.

In the letter, Shantha claimed Ramesh worked for the Maoists pretending to be their sympathiser but passed on information about them to the police. “Ramesh was in touch with the Venkatapuram police and was passing on vital information about the movements of the Maoists...he was being paid money... At the behest of the police, he supplied milk powder laced with poison to the Maoists, who fell sick after consuming the same. One of the Maoists, M Bhikshapathi alias Vijender, died of poisoning,” Shanta wrote.

He blamed Ramesh for tipping off police about Maoist presence that triggered a gunbattle. Shantha claimed Ramesh collected ₹two lakh from the police for this. “We are killing him as per the people’s wish as he betrayed the people and the party.”