Jamshedpur, January 28: A villager was shot dead and two others, including a woman, were injured by CPI(Maoists) in Ghunandi village in the wee hours today.
The victim, Sagar Mahto, along with other members of the newly floated anti-Naxal committee formed by the villagers, was on night duty when around a dozen Maoists with firearms challenged them, police said.
Mahto and his friends raised an alarm and villagers with traditional weapons came out to chase the Maoists away. However, the extremists started firing on the villagers, who retaliated with bows and arrows, they said, adding Mahto was killed in the firing, while two others, including a woman, sustained injuries.
The injured were rushed to Tata Main hospital, where they are undergoing treatment, they said. Meanwhile, a massive combing operation was launched in the Naxal-affected areas to track down the ultras.
Earlier, the villagers under Potka block of East Singhbhum district and Nimdih block in Saraikela-Kharswan had formed an anti-Naxal committee and launched massive campaign in their respective areas. The villagers also forced shops and markets to remain open during a recent bandh called by the Maoists.
Peeved over the villagers action, the Maoists had shot dead a 19-year-old intermediate student, Malinder Singh Sardar in the area on January 20.
—-Agencies