Bijapur: Maoists allegedly killed a sarpanch-turned-church priest in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh, sources said. Official confirmation of the incident is awaited. According to sources, Father Yalam Shankar was forcibly dragged out of the house and murdered by the Maoists with a sharp weapon at Angampalli panchayat, 2 km from the Mudded police station area. Shankar has been a sarpanch at Angampalli panchayat in the past as per police. Later, he worked as a Father in the church.
While a comment by the police is awaited, the murder is suspected to be connected to conversion, which has been opposed by Maoists in the Bastar division. In the past, at Tursani village of Koylibeda Police Station area of Kanker, Maoists protested by issuing pamphlets against conversion and asked the tribals to “be aware”. In many villages of the Bijapur district, incidents of mutual fights between villagers regarding conversion had also come to the fore.
A complaint was lodged with the Madded Police Station in connection with the death.
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