In Odisha, Maoists today killed a contractor suspecting him to be a police informer in Narayanpatna area of Koraput district. According to police, the body of the contractor was spotted with his throat slit and lying in a pool of blood in the early hours today. Earlier, an Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police was kidnapped by Maoists and shot dead in cold blood at a forested area in Odisha's Nuapada district bordering Chhattisgarh on last Tuesday. The killings came close on the heels of kidnap of two Italians in Kandhamal district and ruling BJD MLA Jhina Hikaka in Koraput district by two different Maoist groups. All three were subsequently released unharmed.