Seven Maoist Leaders Killed in 3-Day 'Encounter'; Rights Groups Allege Brutal Torture

Hyderabad: Encounters have been on between security forces and Maoists at the Indravati National Park in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh for three consecutive days from June 5. Seven Maoist leaders have been killed.

The encounters took place amidst claims by civil rights organisations that the police had picked up 10 Maoists from Parshagarh village from the 1,250 square-kilometre national park where they were sheltered.

Rights bodies have said that seven of them were killed in cold blood after inhuman torture on a daily basis - one on June 5, four on June 6 and two on June 7. Three more Maoists are in police custody, the Civil Liberties Committee's Telangana president Gaddam Laxman, general secretary M. Narayana Rao and other office bearers said.

Even as the police said that only two dead bodies have been identified so far, rights activists have released the names of ten Maoists who were in police custody. The names include those of CPI (Maoist) central committee member Tentu Laxmi Narasimha Chalam alias Sudhakar who was killed on June 5 and CPI (Maoist) Telangana state committee member Mylarapu Adelu alias Bhaskar, who was killed on June 6. They were also the only names confirmed by police as dead.

Additionally, Laxman said they learnt about the death of another Telangana state committee member Bandi Prakash and Dandakaranya special zonal committee member Papa Rao on June 7. Those in police custody include divisional committee member Ramanna, national park area committee secretary Dilip, Dandakaranya area committee woman secretary Situ, and national park area committee members Sunita, Mahesh and Munna.

Differing versions

Laxman had also issued a press release on the evening of June 5, apprehending danger to the lives of Prakash and others in police custody. He demanded their immediate production in court without any harm coming to them. He also called on the Union government to announce a ceasefire and hold peace talks with Maoists.

A press release issued by Bijapur superintendent of police Jitendra Kumar said the dead included two unidentified women and three men.

Laxman told media persons that 10 Maoists in civil dress, abandoning their olive green uniforms, took shelter in Pashagarh village on June 5 when police learnt about their presence through its informant network. Quoting villagers, he added that the police arrived to take them away at around 7 am. They were then reportedly shot dead one after another. He asked the National Human Rights Commission and the Supreme Court to launch suo motu proceedings against the police.

Speaking to The Wire, SP Yadav denied the allegations of the activists and called it false propaganda. He said the operation was launched on specific information that Sudhakar, Bandi Prakash and Papa Rao were among a group of Maoists gathered in the national park area. Joint troops of Special Task Force, District Reserve Guard and CoBRA were dispatched to comb the forest, said the SP.

Sudhakar was killed in the exchange of fire on the first day and an AK-47 rifle was recovered from the site, he claimed. He also called this another big success for the police after the killing of Maoist party general secretary Nambala Kesava Rao in Narayanpur district on May 21.

Four more Maoists were killed on the morning and late night of June 6, including Bhaskar. and two on June 7, Yadav said. Efforts were underway to establish the identity of five bodies of Maoists other than Sudhakar and Bhaskar, he added.

Yadav expressed dismay that the rights organisations had revealed the identity of the slain Maoists and said that he himself was unaware of it.

Some security personnel suffered injuries in the crossfire and some due to snakebite. A few also suffered dehydration, he said.

'A constitutional crisis'

The Coordination Committee for Peace, comprising mediator G. Haragopal and others, said that 18 senior leaders of CPI (Maoist) were in police custody. They noted that these leaders faced grave threats to their lives from police. "The constitutional crisis unfolding in Chhattisgarh demanded urgent intervention by the court to prevent further erosion of democratic principles and protection of fundamental rights," they said.

Haragopal had mediated with Maoists to secure the release of collectors Alex Paul and Vinyl Krishna when they were kidnapped in the past in Chhattisgarh.

Today's killings marked the continuation of fresh hostilities launched by police.

Sudhakar was part of a Maoist delegation that held peace talks with the Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy government in the undivided Andhra Pradesh in 2004. Sudhakar was also in charge of the regional bureau of Revolutionary Political School run by the CPI (Maoist).

Sudhakar also had a two-tier security cover from the party. Rights activists thus argue that if he was killed in a genuine encounter, his security guards would also have fallen to the bullets. But it was only his body that was recovered from the site. They reminded that he was seen in civil clothing instead of military fatigues worn by armed cadre like him. Sudhakar had led an underground life for 40 years after dropping out from Ayurveda college in Vijayawada.

Bhaskar, on the other hand, was a registered medical practitioner at Ramakrishnapur in erstwhile Adilabad district. He joined the then people's war in 1995.

The Committee for Release of Political Prisoners headed by Balla Ravindranath has also alleged that Sudhakar and Bhaskar were killed in fake encounters. A member of Indian Association of People's Lawyers Pichuka Sudhakar addressed a letter to the Chief Justice of Chhattisgarh high court to issue orders for preservation of their bodies until another post mortem examination was conducted.

The Civil Liberties Committee general secretary Laxman Rao said 550 Maoists have lost their lives in Operation Kagar of the Union government from January 1 last year. About 400 of them were poor tribals, they said. The operation was aimed to scuttle the struggles of tribals to hand over mineral wealth in Chhattisgarh to corporates, the group claimed.

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