Overview
- Police identified the deceased as Satyam Poonem, also reported as Poonam Satyam, a mandal-level BJP functionary from Mujalkanker village under Illmidi police station in Bijapur district.
- Officers said four to five suspected Maoists in plain clothes entered his home around midnight, took him outside, and strangled him to death.
- A handwritten leaflet left near the body claimed responsibility in the name of the CPI (Maoist) Madded Area Committee and alleged repeated warnings over supposed links to police.
- Bijapur police registered a case, dispatched forces to the area, and began intensive combing operations in the Madded–Illmidi belt.
- Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister Vijay Sharma condemned the killing and reiterated the state’s resolve against left-wing extremism, with officials noting a broader pattern of attacks including 11 BJP leaders slain since 2023 and about 40 Maoist-linked deaths this year; one outlet reported this was the sixth civilian killing in Bijapur in a week.