Chhattisgarh: Army jawan visiting pregnant wife killed by Maoists in Kanker

Kanker: In Chhattisgarh's Kanker district, Maoists shot dead an Indian Army personnel who was on leave in his village, visiting his pregnant wife, stated reports.

This is the first time that Maoists have killed army personnel. And in their scaled-up aggression, in less than a week they have shot dead seven security force personnel, stated a Times of India report.

The police said that the jawan was shopping in Useli village fair market when he was shot at close range by hit squad who were disguised as villagers and it happened in front of his brother and other villagers, the report stated.

The deceased 29-year-old was with Army Service Corps in the northeast and had come to his village Bade Tevda for a week to visit his pregnant wife.

Kanker SP, Shalabh Sinha was quoted saying that eyewitnesses told them two Maoists shouted 'Lal Salaam' after firing at the deceased jawan and fled. The SP added that this is a shocking incident.

Reportedly, the village is one of the worst Maoist-affected regions and that the jawan or his family was never targeted or threatened by them. The SP added that the army personnel was well respected since there is no other family member who is associated with security forces.

The SP called it "gross violation of human rights" and termed the killing of army personnel as an act of terrorism.

Meanwhile, the police said that Maoist 'small action group' must have killed the army personnel since the group targets off-duty security personnel in markets and other places to strike terror in local population.