SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, June 1: Naxals gunned down the ex-deputy Panchayat chief (Up Mukhiya) Aslam Ansari of Teliya Bahiyar Panchayat under Dumri police station, around 45 km away from the Giridih district headquarters on Tuesday night.
The police said that the incident took place at around 10.30 pm on Tuesday. Five Naxals reached the house of Asalam Ansari (30) and two of them pumped around seven rounds of bullets on him. He succumbed to his injuries on the spot.
After killing Aslam Ansari, the Naxals hit him with a rod several times in front of family members before leaving the place to ensure he is dead. They also raised anti-police slogans.
On getting information, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Manoj Kumar, Pirtand police station officer-in-charge Darshan Soren and Dumri police station officer-in-charge reached the village early morning today and began a search operation to nab the Naxals involved in the killing. They recovered two live cartridges from the place of the incident. The body was sent for post mortem.
According to the information, Naxals had called for Panchayat elections boycott in Giridih and had launched a large scale poster campaign against it, though Aslam Ansari had not contested the poll this time.
Family members said that Aslam had not got any threatening calls from the banned organization. He was elected the deputy Panchayat chief (up Mukhiya) in 2010 and was very popular among people of the region for his social work. The villagers refused to share information with police as well as media persons about the incident.