Maoists kill civilian on spying charge

Raipur, April 9 (IANS) Maoist militants shot dead a tribal youth Monday in Chhattisgarh's restive Bastar region on suspicion he was spying for the police, police said.

Officials here at police headquarters said that Maoists picked up the youth from his native village Toropi in Kanker district, some 280 km from here, and gunned him down on charges of spying for local police.

In another incident, a contingent of about 50 police comprising of District Force (DF) and the Special Task Force (STF) apprehended four Maoists in Sukma district during a combing operation in a jungle area Monday evening.

Kanker and Sukma form a nearly 40,000 sq km Bastar region along with five other districts where the leftist insurgents run a parallel government in the forested areas since late 1980s.