Maoists appear to have stepped up their campaign to hit soft targets in Gadchiroli immediately after their unsuccessful bid to sabotage Assembly elections, killing two civilians on two successive days. Early Saturday, they killed Mahendra Narote, 26, at Kulbhatti village in Dhanora tehsil while on Sunday night, they stabbed Birju Kiranga, 32, to death.

While the Naxals suspecting the victims were police informers, the police have denied any links. The two murders have taken the number of civilian casualties in Gadchiroli this year to 32, highest for any year. Asked if this could be a run-up to facing the planned offensive against Naxals, Gadchiroli Superintendent of Police Jayakumar said, “We can’t say if that is the case.” Hundreds of Naxals who had descended on Gadchiroli to disrupt polls, have reportedly started leaving the district.

Meanwhile, the government has token away the four choppers, deployed during the polls, from Gadchiroli. “During elections, major Naxal offensives could be foiled only because of choppers. And with the planned offensive not far away from taking off, ridding Gadchiroli of the choppers is unfortunate,” said another senior official.