A sense of fear prevails deeply among the students of the Nargund region who live outside the village for studies as a tribal student preparing for Government competitive exams was brutally killed by armed cadres of the banned CPI-Maoists in insurgency-hit Gadchiroli of Maharashtra on March 9.
As per the information received, the youth Sainath Narote (26), a resident of Marudhar tee under Nargund police station limits of Gadchiroli, was residing in the district headquarters where he was preparing for Government exams; he had recently returned to his village for Holi festival when the Maoists brutally killed him.
The incident occurred when Sainath was going through a local forest trail when the Maoists learned about him and abducted him, it’s been reported that about 6 to 7 cadres of the outlawed CPI in plain clothes took him into the jungles and shot him dead.
It’s been learnt that the Maoists have killed the youth after alleging him for being a police informer, following which they threw his body near the village late in the night and fled into the jungles. It was only in the morning that the villagers informed the local police about the incident, who then sent the body for a postmortem subsequently.
Killings of Civilians
It is to be noted that in the last couple of years, the maoists have deliberately targeted and killed dozens of civilians and students after branding them as police informers in the maoists-affected zones of Chhattisgarh.
As per the statistics available more than three dozen civilians have been brutally killed by the cadres of the proscribed CPI-Maoists in the last year alone. These include cold-blooded murders of people from humble backgrounds, such as farmers and students.
The killing trend has continued in the current year too, as more than ten civilians, including 4 BJP leaders, have been deliberately targeted and killed so far in the last two and a half months alone.
The security experts are of the opinion that the targeted killings of civilians in the maoist’s thresholds describe nothing but the frustration and helplessness of the maoists as they are no longer a substantial force which can hold the ground in front of the advancing forces.
Who are on the targets
Security officials with an experience in these regions are of the opinion that the maoists are deliberately going after those youths and leaders who have a leaning towards education, development and democratic values as there is a growing sense of fear among the ultras that more educated youths and development work can unmask the hidden anti-people face of theirs. Thus they are doing everything possible to send out a loud message that anyone trying to be a part of the Government setup will have to face the consequences.
The other individuals who have been on the targets of the ultras are those who have a deep leaning towards the culture and tradition of the tribal (Vanvasi community) community, here the fear of the ultras are that if the Vanvasi community regularly gets exposed to their heritage, it will drive them close to the concept of cultural nationalism, this in fact in the long term will damage the cause of their so-called revolution.
