Maoists shoot down Congress leader in Chhattisgarh

Around a dozen Maoists raided Lalit Markam's house and pumped four bullets into him, killing him instantly.

Guerrillas of the Communist Party of India - Maoist shot dead a Congress tribal leader in a village in Chhattisgarh's violence-hit Dantewada district, police said on Tuesday.

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Around a dozen Maoists raided the house of Lalit Markam, 42, in his ancestral village of Dudhras and pumped four bullets into him, killing him instantly.

They then ransacked his house and mercilessly beat up his elder brother. They also set fire to two motorcycles before fleeing.

According to police, Markam was closely associated with the anti-Maoist Salwa Judum (Campaign for Peace) movement launched in June 2005.

Last week, the guerrillas had killed a BJP leader at Narayanpur in Bastar district.

Maoists, who claim to be fighting for the rights of poor peasants and landless labourers, dominate the rural and forested areas of eight of Chhattisgarh's 16 districts. Around 180 people have been killed in Maoist violence in the state since January.