Samajwadi Party leader Santosh Punem kidnapped and killed by Maoists in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur

Samajwadi Party leader Santosh Punem was kidnapped and killed by Maoists in Chhattisgarhs Bijapur district. His body was found deep in a jungle area in Bijapur, police said. Punem was a Samajwadi Party leader and unsuccessfully contested the Assembly elections in the state held in December last year. Police said that his body was found today, a day after he was kidnapped by Naxals from a construction site in Marimalla village. Police said that a search operation was launched on Tuesday to trace the whereabouts of the politician but police couldnt locate him. His dead body was found on Wednesday in the village. Suderaj P, DIG, anti-naxal operations, confirmed that Santosh was killed by Maoists. He informed that Santosh was a resident of Marimalla who worked as a contractor. The top cop said that the spot where his body was found is around 15 km from the police station. Santosh had contested last November-December Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh on a Samajwadi Party ticket from Bijapur. He was also state vice president of Samajwadi Party in Bijapur district, ANI reported.