Raipur
In a brutal attack, Maoists allegedly murdered a 28-year-old surrendered cadre with sharp-edged weapons in the Pamed police station area of Bijapur district on Friday night. The victim, identified as Punem Budra, was accused by the insurgents of being a police informer.
According to the police, the incident occurred around 10 pm in Errapalli village. A group of armed Maoists reportedly stormed Budra’s residence and dragged him out. They inflicted severe injuries to his head, face and eyes. Budra, son of Joga, died on the spot due to excessive blood loss.
Budra had surrendered before security forces in Sukma district in 2022 and had been residing in his ancestral village Errapalli since mid-2025. Local sources stated that the attackers accused him of sharing intelligence with the police, claiming his actions had caused major setbacks to their organization.
After receiving information about the murder, security forces intensified search operations in the forested areas of Pamed. A police team was sent to the spot for a formal investigation. The body was sent for post-mortem and later handed over to the family.
The incident has created panic among villagers and raised security concerns for other former Maoists who returned to their villages under the state government’s rehabilitation policy. In the Bastar region, surrendered cadres are given vocational training at rehabilitation centres before re-integration into society.
This is the second killing in 20 days in the district. Earlier this month, Maoists murdered road contractor Imtiyaz Ali in the same police station area. Ali, a resident of Uttar Pradesh living in Narayanpur, was killed while trying to secure the release of his abducted supervisor.
According to Bijapur SP Dr Jitendra Kumar Yadav, security has been tightened in the area to prevent further incidents.
