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Hours after the forces gunned down as many as 29 Maoists in a fierce exchange of fire in Kanker, the cadres of the outlawed Communist Party of India Maoists (CPI Maoist), in yet another display of raw violence against unarmed civilians, killed another innocent villager in the Narayanpur district of Chhattisgarh on late Tuesday night, April 16.
According to the details, local Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Upsarpanch (sub- village head), Pancham Das, was brutally hacked to death by the members of the Small Action Team (SAT) in Dandwan village under Farasgaon police station limits of Narayanpur.
The Maoist barged in the house of Pancham Das on late Tuesday night and then forcibly took him along at a nearby deserted place, where they hacked him to death after labelling him on charges on espionage. After the murder, the extremists threw his body on the outskirts of villages and fled the scene.
Following the murder, the Purva (East) Bastar Division Committee of the outlawed CPI Maoist, while claiming the responsibility for the attack, has also hung banners, posters, leaving pamphlets in the area in which they have claimed Das to be an informant of the police. In the banners and posters, the extremists have also appealed to hit back the ruling BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Upon receiving the information about the incident, a police team have reached the spot and recovered the body, which was subsequently taken for autopsy, while search operation were on in the vicinity, according to an official familiar with the development.
Meanwhile, reacting to the brutal incident, Deputy Chief Minister of the State, Vijay Sharma, while interacting with the media, informed “that the deceased was a worker of the BJP, he was a village head and its a cowardly act carried out by the Maoist. You have a gun and you can shoot anyone, What kind of approach is this? The Vishnu Deo Sai led government is very clear about establishing peace in Bastar and even if a small group of the Maoists is ready for the peace talk we are always ready for it, added DY CM Sharma.
Violence unleashed against unarmed civilians and political representatives
It is noteworthy that a number of leaders associated with the Prime Narendra Modi led party in Chhattisgarh were brutally killed by the Maoists within a span of only one and a half years.
Earlier, a BJP worker identified as Tirupati Katlu was stabbed to death by a Small Action Team (SAT) of the Maoists when the latter was returning from a wedding function on March 1.
Days later, the extremists also abducted and killed the Vyapar Prakoshtha block vice president, Kailash Nag who was reviewing the development work of the forest department’s neat Kotmeta forest area under the Jangla police station limits.
According to the reports, the Maoists, after kidnapping the BJP leader, took him to the nearby forest, where they shot him dead. It has been learned that the deceased BJP worker was on the hit-list of the insurgents who had earlier threatened him as well.
Earlier, in another gruesome incident, then BJP Usur block president Neelkanth Kettam was also hacked to death by the outlaws in February last year.
The horrific incident occurred when Neelkanthan arrived to attend a wedding function in Paikram village under the Awpalli police station, when he was hacked to death by the cadres of the Maded Area Committee of the outlawed CPI Maoist.
Notably, days after the murder of Neelkantha, the extremists in back-to-back attacks had also killed two more workers of the BJP. The killings included the then BJP vice president of Narayanpur district, Saagar Sahu, who was shot dead at his home by two assailants.
Further, the outlaws had also killed Ratan Dubey, another BJP leader from Narayanpur, when he was out campaigning for the party before the State assembly elections in November last year.
Most of the violence against the political representative in recent years has been carried out against the BJP functionaries, that too in the election years, indicating that the leaders of the Saffron party are on the hit-list of the outlaws, who have a resolve to establish an authoritarian communist regime by overthrowing the democratic setup of the country.
Recently, the districts BJP president of the Bijapur unit had also penned a letter to the Union Home Minister seeking security covers for the BJP leaders, citing that the party leaders are leaving in constant threat of Maoist attack and are forced to change their location during the night out of fear.
Apart from targeting political representatives, the extremist have also carried out acts of violence against the common citizens of the tribal dominated regions.
Recently, in a gruesome display of violence, the ultras had allegedly executed as many as three men on the occasion of Holi last month in Bijapur district.
Earlier, the Maoists also killed as many as two citizens in Duled village, Sukma. The deceased were later identified as Sodhi Hunga and Madhvi Nanda. The list is long, as are the victims of this one sided violence. Dozen of such incidents have been carried out by the outlaws in the past few years alone, and the Modus Operandi has remained the same: to label charges of espionage on the victims.
Boycotting of elections
Boycotting the elections and interrupting the democratic process through the means of violence have always been part and parcel of the Maoist agenda, which earlier used to run their autocratic parallel governments in regions under their control at their zenith.
The ultras have not only time and again carried out incident of violence to disrupt the elections but they also issues decrees ordering the civilians to boycott the elections or to bear the consequences if they opts to defy the orders.
Recently, in a press release issued by the Dakshin (South) Sub Zonal Bureau of the banned CPI Maoist, the extremist gave a call to boycott the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The Maoist in the press release have once again asserted that the people should hit-back the BJP, RSS workers, along boycotting the elections in general citing alleged corporitasation.
The Maoist in the press release have further alleged that the Modi government is developing tourism centre across several places of religious significance to fool the masses and even the consecration ceremony of Ramlala was also a part of it.
Interestingly, the Maoist in the press release have also batted for the leaders who have been jailed for their alleged involvement in separate cases of corruption and alleged that the incumbent union government has been doing vendetta politics and misusing the central agencies for their own benefits.
Allegation of corporatisation and anti-development approach
Other than boycotting the elections, the extremists have been opposing the development projects in the remote regions of Bastar since always. There are hundreds of incidents where armed cadres of the CPI Maoist Party have not only disrupted the ongoing development project but have also wreaked havoc on the machines and vehicles involved in the work.
The extremist claimed that the government is promoting corporatisation in the tribal dominated areas on the name of development; however, most of the time, the attacks carried out by the extremists are against the road construction work in the remote areas aimed at connecting residents of remote villages for providing them basic facilities such as education, benefits of government schemes and healthcare facilities on time.
According to the experts, the anti development approach of the Maoist are based on several factors, as not only will the development of roads make life easy for the security personnel in navigating through the insurgency prone areas but it could also instill the faith of people in the government, which has been the case in the recent few years.
Forces firmed up the grip
There is no if and but that the recent few years have turned out to be decisive for the security forces grappling with the Maoist challenge in mineral rich terrains of central India for decades. The forces in the recent few years have not only managed to contain the spread of the insurgency in States like Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha, but they have also made solid ground in the Maoist bastion of Bastar of Chhattisgarh.
According to the statistics shared by the Union Home Minister, as many as 250 security camps have been established in the Maoist infested regions across the country in the last five years alone. This includes the establishment of a camp in the alleged headquarters of the Maoists in Puverti village, Sukma.
As per the security officials who are at the helm of affairs in these remote, unexplored regions of the country, the battle against the Maoist is at a decisive juncture, and the atrocities carried out by the Maoist against civilians are a mere reflection of the frustration brewing among them.
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