Biswanath Dutta, a resident of Jamboni village in Bankura, was dragged out of his house late at night and his bullet-ridden body was found in a nearby forest the following morning.

“We have sent the body to Bankura Medical College for postmortem. We are investigating the matter,” said Vishal Garg, SP, Bankura.

The CPM has, meanwhile, called for a 12-hour bandh in Bandwan in Purulia district after

a party worker, Dhanu Rajat (45), was shot dead on Sunday evening at Dhadka village in Bandwan.

Rajat, a teacher in the Dhadka primary school, was a DYFI zonal committee member, CPM local committee member and former president of Dhadka gram panchayat.

According to a senior police officer, around seven motorcycle-borne men fired indiscriminately at Rajat and shot him dead when he was in the market.

The miscreants soon fled the spot towards the Raika forest area.

“In protest against the incident, we have called a 12-hour bandh in the area. We demand that the miscreants be arrested soon or else we will start an agitation in the area. The police have

become very inactive and because of their inaction, the Maoists of the Ayodhya squad often enter the villages and kill people, said Krishnaprasad Sengupta, district committee member (in-charge of Bandwan).