A Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) activist was shot dead by a group of suspected Maoist guerrillas in West Bengal's West Midnapore district for allegedly acting as a spy for the government forces, officials said Monday.
Though the incident occurred late Sunday, the body was found by the locals Monday morning.
"Tapan Mahato, a CPI-M supporter, was killed by suspected Maoists. He was taken out by the ultras and shot dead near a forest located almost one kilometre away from his village," West Midnapore District Magistrate N.S. Nigam told IANS.
He said Mahato was a resident of Sirsa village under Shalboni gram panchayat (village council) in Jhargram sub-division.
Police said Maoist posters were recovered from the site where Mahato was found lying in a pool of blood.
The Maoists rebels owned up responsibility for the killing and wrote on the posters that Mahato was shot dead for acting as a spy for the joint forces, deployed to flush out Left-wing extremists from the region.