Maoists kill forest official in Chhattisgarh

Maoist guerrillas abducted a forest department officials on Saturday and beat him to death in the first such killing in the Raipur district of Chhattisgarh, police said.

Maoist guerrillas abducted a forest department officials on Saturday and beat him to death in the first such killing in the Raipur district of Chhattisgarh, police said.

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The rebels telephoned Gokul Tandi, a deputy forest ranger posted in diamond-rich Devbhog area, to say that a few people were illegally felling forest trees.

When Tandi reached the spot, he was abducted at gunpoint.

"He was brutally beaten to death. Some villagers brought his body to Indagaon after the police refused to collect the body, suspecting Maoists could ambush their vehicle if they entered the thickly forested area," a police source told IANS.

The place where Tandi was killed is about 150 km from the state capital.