The body of Nuapada block chairman Sunil Debangan, who was kidnapped by armed Maoists from his village on Saturday, was found inside the Sunabeda Wildlife Sanctuary on Sunday morning. Five naxal posters have been recovered near the body taking responsibility for the killing, police sources said.  Combing operations by the security forces have been intensified in the area after the recovery of Debangan’s body. In the posters, the Maoists have maintained that he had been given “death penalty” in a “people’s court” as he refused to obey the directives of the left wing ultras.

 Debangan had contested and won the last rural bodies’ elections as an independent candidate. However, subsequently he had joined the Congress, the principal opposition party in Odisha.

 The Maoists have already eliminated 14 people in Nuapara district during the last one year. The Sunabeda sanctuary has turned into a safe haven for the red rebels, particularly from Chhattsigarh.