Civilians killed in Sukma encounter, allege Maoists

Their families should be provided help, they demand

August 19, 2017 08:45 pm | Updated 08:46 pm IST

NAGPUR: The outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) has alleged that the two suspected Maoists killed by the security forces in Sukma district of South Chhattisgarh last week were “common civilians” and killed in a “fake encounter”.

“At around midnight on August 12, the security forces surrounded Ittanpara village [in South Sukma] and took away two civilians, Podium Sunna and Vanjam Hunga, who were asleep in their houses. Both the villagers were taken to Gajulgatta area near Kistaram forest and tortured inhumanly before being killed. On the next day, the police told the media that both of them were Maoists and killed in an encounter. This fake encounter should be condemned and the family members of these civilians should be provided help,” said the South Bastar Divisional Committee of the CPI(Maoist) in a press statement.

The police had claimed that Sunna was the Maoists militia platoon deputy commander and Hunga was a member of the small action team of the platoon number 8 in Sukma.

They had also claimed to have recovered one pistol and one locally-made gun from them.

The Maoists claimed that the entire South Sukma area surrounding Kistaram village was facing large scale “attacks” by the security forces led by a local District Reserve Guard (DRG) commander Madkam Mudraz.

“The villages around Kistaram are being attacked regularly. Innocent villagers are being beaten up and implicated in false cases. The security forces enter the houses of common villagers at midnight and indulge in plunder. Since the last two years, this suppression is happening in south Sukma under the leadership of Mudraz with the consent of Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh and senior officials,” the ultra left outfit alleged.

Kistaram village is known to be a hardcore Maoist area where their military battalion, headed by dreaded Maoist commander Hidma, operates.

The Maoists have carried out many major attacks on the security forces since 2010.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.