A fact-finding team of the All India People’s Forum (AIPF), which visited four district of restive Bastar region of Chhattisgarh last week, has castigated the state police and security forces for alleged fake encounters, rapes, fake cases, arbitrary arrests and fake surrenders.
An eight member fact finding team of the AIPF, led by Kavita Krishnan, the secretary of All India Progressive Women’s Association and assisted by Tribal activist Soni Sori, also concluded that the Christian minorities in the region are facing communal violence.
“Three village boys- Dudhi Bhima, Sodhi Moya and Vetti Lachchu -were killed in a fake encounter by the police on November 3, 2015 in Arlampalli village of Sukma district. No FIR has been registered in the case yet. Four women – Rame, Pandi, Sunno and Mase - were killed in another fake encounter on November 11, 2015 at Nagalguda village of Dantewada district. One of them was raped before being killed. Two small girls –Siriyam Pojje and Manjam Shanti - were killed by the police in cold blood on January 31, 2016 near Palamagdu village of Sukma. Police declared the girls as Maoists, however, villagers say they had no connection with the Maoists. A married couple was killed by the police on May 21, 2016 near Kadenar village of Bijapur district and branded as Maoists. But the couple had left the Maoist movement five years ago,” claimed the AIPF fact finding team in a press statement.
The fact finding team also alleged that 22 DRG (District Reserve Guard) Jawans were decorated and promoted for Nagalgunda encounter “in spite of the fact that rewarding jawans for encounters is against NHRC guidelines and Supreme Court guidelines for encounters”.
The team also questioned the police version of large scale surrenders in Chintalnar area of Sukma and claimed that most of the cases of surrender in this area were “not genuine”.
The team claimed that the villagers resisting violations of the Forest Rights near Raoghat Mines in Kanker district were facing “repression and intimidation”.
“Two AIPF teams covered 1650 kilometers in their journey, where they encountered more than 60 police and CRPF camps. But in the 25 villages that the teams visited, the villagers were insecure and suspicious of each other. In these four districts, political groups and other organizations are rather inactive, suggesting that the scope for democracy has shrunk there. Most of the villages visited by the teams were without electricity, without roads and lacking in education and health facilities,” concluded the team while citing the case of the death of two kids in Bijapur after drinking milk provided by the Anganwadi last month.
