Maoists killed a village sarpanch in Koraput district suspecting him to be an informer of the police.
A group of around 25 armed ultras stormed Hatibari village under Nandapur block late on Monday night and dragged sarpanch Jagannath Khara out of his house and killed him on the outskirt of the village, police said.
The body of Khara with his throat slit with a sharp weapon was later found by the villagers who informed the police about the incident.
The red rebels also torched some vehicles, including a car, a jeep and a motorcycle, belonging to the deceased before disappearing into the forest.
A hand-written letter recovered from the spot asked the people of the area to refrain from taking up police or home guard jobs, sources said.
The name of Srikakulam-Koraput Divisional committee of the banned CPI (Maoist) was mentioned in the letter which also attacked both the Centre as well as the state government, they added.