Kolkata:
Suspected Maoists shot dead the headmaster of a primary school in West Midnapore district of West Bengal for refusing to let his students join a pro-Maoist procession.
Rabindranath Mahato was just leaving his Indraboni Primary School on Friday around 3 pm when six persons in three motorcycles swooped down on him, hacked at him with choppers and then shot him dead at point blank range. As fellow teachers and students fled in terror, the six youth left shouting pro-Maoist slogans.
Mahato's murder came two days after villagers at Radhanagar chased away activists of the pro-Maoist People's Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA), who wanted the villagers to join a procession they were holding.
On Friday, over 7000 residents of about six villages came together and held their own procession to protest against the strong arm tactics of the PCPA. The villagers complained of harassment of women as well by the PCPA.
While the villagers protest may have been a one-off incident, people are turning away from pro-Maoist groups, say the police. And as the isolation of the Maoist groups grows, they are taking to more killings of innocents like the headmaster of the primary school.