Orissa DIG shot dead

It is not yet confirmed as to whether the Maoists had any hand in
this but they are considered the prime suspects.

Orissa DIG shot dead
PTI
Monday, October 23, 2006 14:27 IST

RAYAGADA (Orissa): Deputy Inspector General of Police Jaswinder Singh was shot dead at Laxmipur in Naxal-infested south Orissa after he refused to pay money for Kali puja festivities, official sources said.

Singh, DIG of the southwestern range, was stopped on his way from Sunabeda to Padmapur by a group of persons at around noon and asked to pay money. He declined and asked them to disperse.

As he was entering the car, the persons shot at him twice from behind.

Seriously injured in the head, he was rushed to the government hospital here where he was declared dead, the sources said.

The driver of the police officer's car and his personal security officer were not hurt in the incident.

Home Secretary Tarunkanti Mishra said in Bhubaneswar that this was the first time that an Indian Police Service officer had been killed in the state.

The identity of the assailants is being verified, he said.

Rayagada and Koraput districts in south Orissa have been witnessing considerable Naxalite activities over the past few years.

Police have launched an intensive combing operation in the area while a high alert had been sounded in the two districts, he said.

The home secretary said the central government and the neighbouring states of Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh had been informed about the incident.