A Chhattisgarh Armed Force head constable, who left from his camp in the state's Naxal-hit Dantewada district on August 28 allegedly without informing anyone, was found dead on Tuesday, a police official said.
Police suspect that the head constable, Kaneshwar Netam (32), might have entered Naxals' den in the forest and was killed by them.
This is the second such incident in two days in which state police officials suspect the role of Maoists.
Netam's body, bearing head injuries, was found on Tuesday morning near a rivulet on a forest route between Bodli and Kademeta villages, Dantewada Superintendent of Police Abhishek Pallava told PTI.
The head constable, belonging to 22nd battalion of the Chhattisgarh Armed Force (CAF), was transferred to the Bodli camp of his unit from his native district Kanker last month, he said.
Netam joined the duty in Bodli on August 25. He left the camp on the evening of August 28 allegedly without informing anyone and did not return, the official said.
A search operation was launched by police the next day during which it came to light that he had food at the house of a villager in nearby Ghotiya village and on Sunday, some villagers dropped him near Malewahi camp of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), he said.
"However, he did not go inside the camp and ran away from there," the official said.
"Prima facie, it seems local militia cadres of Maoists caught hold of him and killed him. It looks like Netam was hit with a blunt object on his head resulting in his death," he said, adding that the exact cause of the death will be known after the autopsy.
No Maoist pamphlet or note was recovered from the area in this connection and the police are investigating all possible angles, he said.
As per preliminary information, in the past also, Netam allegedly left his camp without informing anyone and remained absent from his duty place for two to three days during his postings in Geedam (Dantewada) and Jagdalpur (Bastar), Pallava said.
On Monday, the body of a 59-year-old assistant sub- inspector, who went missing while travelling to his native village in Bijapur district, was found. Police suspect he was also killed by Maoists.