Bhubaneswar, Aug 9 - Maoists early Sunday shot dead two people in Orissa's Rayagada district suspecting them to be police informers, police said.

The rebels killed Siba Sankar and Bibhisan Kalanandia near Chandrapur, some 140 km from the district headquarter of Rayagada, district Superintendent of Police Ashish Kumar Singh told IANS by phone.

'Siba Sankar used to write posters for the Maoists. He was wanted by us,' he said, adding, 'The rebels killed him and Kalanandia suspecting them to be police informers.'

The district headquarters of Rayagada is about 490 km from state capital Bhubaneswar. Maoists are active in more than half of Orissa's 30 districts.