Raipur: Killing of civilians by Maoists have been a regular occurrence in conflict ridden regions of Chhattisgarh’s Bastar. In the latest episode a youth of the Jaigur village of Bijapur district has met a similar fate at the hands of Maoists.
According to the reports, Situ Mandavi, a resident of Bhairamgarh was abducted and produced before a Jan Adalat, a self-styled court of the extremists on Sunday, August 25 where the Maoists while alleging him for spying announced a capital punishment for him.
Following the public hearing, the outlaws reportedly kept Mandavi as a hostage after which his body was recovered at outskirts of Jaigur forest on Monday. The extremists have also issued a note claiming responsibility for Mandavi’s murder citing that he was killed for espionage activities.
In the note issued by the Bhairamgarh Area Committee of the outlawed CPI Maoist, the ultras have alleged Mandavi for passing clandestine information to the police since 2021.
Notably, this is not an isolated case of civilian killing carried out by the cadres of the far left group recenly and earlier the outlaws had also killed an elderly citizen labelling similar charges on him on the intervening night of August 23-24. The deceased was identified as Lancha Punem, a resident of Pusnaar village under Gangloor police station limits of Bijapur.
Killing of civilians on alleged charges of espionage
It must be noted that the state’s home minister, Vijay Sharma on July 24 informed that a total of 34 civilians in the state have so far been killed in incidents linked to Maoists as of June this year.
“24 out of 34 civilian killed were executed on alleged charges of espionage while one civilian was killed in firing by the outlaws, four of the civilians were executed after being produced before the Jan Adalat,” informed the minister while replying to a query in the state assembly.
It is worth mentioning here, that the incumbent government led by Chief Minister, Vishnu Deo Sai has induced several measures to contain the insurgency which has been yielding positive results lately on tackling the Maoist’s challenge in the state.
However, despite the success achieved on the operational front, the surge in civilian killings in the remote parts of the conflict ridden Bastar division of the state underscores the immediate need to implement more tighten measures.
Maoists carrying reward of 29 lakhs surrender in Bijapur
In a related development as many as 25 former members of the banned CPI Maoist have surrendered before the police in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh on Monday.
As per the details, five of the surrendered Maoists were carrying a cumulative bounty of Rs 28 lakh on their heads, this include Mahesh Telam, Sambati Madkam, Jyoti Punem, all members of the battalion no 02 of Peoples Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA), armed wing of the CPI Maoist carrying a reward of Rs 8 lakh each.
With the latest surrender, the tally of surrendered Maoists in Bijapur district alone has touched the figure of 170 in the year so far, while over 560 former cadres of the banned outfit have returned to the mainstream in the state in the corresponding period.
