Maoists on Friday killed five Forward Bloc workers at Jhalda in Purulia district on the suspicion that they were working as police informers.
"Chapala Garai, Tapan Singh Sardar, Kinkar Singh, Rajesh Singh and Gopeswar Mahato were shot dead by armed Maoist cadres at Baghbinda village," said Superintendent of Police Sunil Kumar Chaudhuri.
The villagers, who were in the age group between 40 and 50 years, were picked up from their homes at nearly 2 am and shot from close range in a field in the hilly village bordering Jharkhand, he said.
The police have found posters left by the Maoists at the spot that claim that the five villagers had been spying for security personnel. The bodies have been sent for post-mortem.
