The Maoist insurgency-hit Bastar region of Chhattisgarh is witnessing a propaganda war between the police and Maoists with both sides claiming to have inflicted heavy damage on the other.
The outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoists) claimed that the party’s military wing, the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA), killed six commandos of the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (COBRA) of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in an encounter in Bijapur district on August 10.
In a handwritten press note from the South Bastar Regional Committee of the CPI (Maoist), the banned outfit claimed that the PLGA “shot dead” six COBRA commandos and inflicted serious injuries on four others in an encounter near Pawarguda village of Bijapur district.
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“A police party took the dead bodies and the injured jawans towards Murdonda area. But the police and district administration remained silent on the incident. It’s not yet confirmed whether they handed over those dead bodies to the families of the deceased,” said the South Bastar Regional Committee.
However, police denied the Maoists' claims.
“It is not possible for police to hide such a big incident because we have to do so many formalities. The Maoists are desperate and are on back foot. They (Maoists) are fighting a losing battle and are indulging in such false propaganda out of frustration,” reacted Mr. S. R. Kalluri, the Inspector General (IG) of Police, Bastar range.
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In a similar incident, Chhattisgarh police and the CRPF had claimed that they killed “at least 10 to 11” Maoists” in Ramram village of Sukma district on July 28 only to be rebutted by the Maoists who instead claimed that the security forces killed “two civilians” in the village.
The South Bastar Regional Committee press release has also appealed the security personnel to “stop sacrificing their lives for the capitalists”.
“Don’t fight for the capitalists and imperialists. Instead join our people’s movement,” the banned outfit told the jawans.