By IANS,
Bhubaneswar : Stepping up attacks ahead of the polls, Maoist rebels Thursday killed an election candidate of a regional party in Orissa, the police said.
At least four armed rebels killed Somnath Madkami, candidate of the Samrudha Odisha party for Malkangiri assembly constituency, at Kalimela town, district superintendent of police Satyabrata Bhoi told IANS.
“They took him 4 km away from his home and killed him with sharp weapons,” he said.
The murder took place an hour after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik addressed an election rally at Malkangiri town, some 618 km from here. Malkangiri is considered a Maoist stronghold.
The rebels, who are active in more than half of 30 districts of the state, have called for a boycott of the polls.
Jatish Mohanty, the chief of Samrudha Odisha, said: “Somanth was a winning candidate for us. I do not know why the Naxalites killed him. It is dangerous to the democratic process. The state government must take action to curb the Naxal menace.”
Orissa goes to simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and the state assembly April 16 and 23.