New Delhi: The bloodstained jungles of Bastar have witnessed increasing violence in recent months. Under the joint “Operation Kagar” led by the central and Chhattisgarh governments, numerous encounters have taken place, killing not only Maoists but also several innocent tribals. Allegations suggest that many of the deceased Maoists were not killed in encounters but were instead murdered in police custody.
Amid this turmoil, the Maoists have proposed peace talks. On Wednesday, April 2, the Central Committee of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) extended this proposal to the government.
Will peace talks succeed?
This is the first such peace proposal from the Maoists in several years. CPI (Maoist) Central Committee spokesperson Abhay stated that if the government halts its operations against them, they are willing to engage in unconditional peace talks.
The proposal gains significance ahead of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s scheduled visit to Bastar on April 5.
In the statement, spokesperson Abhay said, “In the interest of the people, we are proposing peace talks with the central and state governments. Our demand is that killings and massacres under the guise of operations in Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra (Gadchiroli), Odisha, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Telangana be stopped. The establishment of new armed force camps should also be halted.”
He further stated that if the government responds positively, the Maoists will immediately declare a ceasefire.
According to Abhay, in the past 15 months, more than 400 people—including many party leaders, activists, and members of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA)—have been killed in different states, especially in Chhattisgarh. He added that “many innocent tribals have also been killed,” with nearly one-third of the deceased being ordinary tribals.
On March 29, 17 Maoists, including 11 women, were killed in a security force operation in Sukma district. According to police reports, more than 117 Maoists have been killed in encounters in Bastar since the beginning of this year.
Encounter or custodial killings?
Among those killed in the March 31 encounter was Gummadavelli Renuka, a member of the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee. However, Maoists claim that the official police version of her death is false.
According to their statement, Renuka, also known as Bhanu or Chaite, was not killed in an encounter but was arrested while resting alone in a house in the Bhairamgarh block of Bijapur district due to health issues. Maoists allege that police surrounded the house at 4 AM, arrested her, and later killed her by the Indravati River between 9 and 10 AM.
According to the Maoists, Renuka was killed by the security forces after being taken into custody. (File Photo: papanna.lanka/Facebook)
Fifty-five-year-old Renuka was a resident of Kadvendi village in Telangana’s Jangaon district. A law graduate from Tirupati, she had been involved in the Maoist movement for nearly 35 years.
Maoists also allege that on March 25, police arrested Lankeshwarapu Sarayya (alias Sudhir), a member of the Indravati Area Committee, along with some villagers, and later executed Sudhir and two young villagers outside their village.
Activists raise concerns over tribal killings
Activist Bela Bhatia, who works in Bastar, told The Wire Hindi, “The Adivasis of Bastar have been living with pain now for nearly two decades. In this intensified phase of counter-insurgency people are dying almost every day. People are being picked up in large numbers and kept in police custody for many days when family members know not whether they are dead or alive. There is no place any longer that is safe where a bullet or an IED cannot reach them. How can they live like that?”
On February 27, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested Raghu Midiyami, a founding member of the Moolvasi Bachao Manch (MBM), a tribal rights group in Sukma district, alleging links to the banned Maoist party. MBM was declared an outlawed organization in October 2024, even though the state government did not accuse it of any criminal acts—only of opposing government initiatives in Maoist-affected areas and obstructing security camps and development projects.
Last year, in June, the Bijapur police arrested 25-year-old tribal activist Sunita Pottam. Initially detained in one case, she was later implicated in 12 more cases.
“They are not able to live peacefully nor die peacefully,” said Bela Bhatia. “This must end. The solution to this situation caused due to warfare is not more warfare but dialogue. Unconditional dialogue.”
Fake encounter allegations against security forces
As the number of reported Maoist deaths in encounters has increased, allegations of fake encounters have also surfaced.
On February 1, police claimed to have killed eight wanted Maoists in an encounter near Gangloor in Bijapur district. However, villagers and human rights activists dismissed this as a staged event, asserting that those killed were ordinary villagers.
Similarly, in December 2024, security forces claimed to have killed seven Maoists in an encounter in Abujhmad, on the border of Narayanpur and Bijapur districts. However, local villagers and tribal activists stated that five of those killed were not Maoists but innocent villagers, including four minors.
The victims were from the Madia tribal community, classified by the government as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG).
On February 25, 2024, police claimed that three Maoists were killed in an encounter in Bhoma-Hurtarai village of Kanker district. However, locals and the victims’ families accused the police of staging a fake encounter.
Similarly, on May 10, 2024, security forces claimed to have killed 12 Maoists in an encounter in Bijapur district. However, the victims’ families alleged that 10 of them were innocent villagers engaged in farming.
Past incidents of alleged fake encounters
In February 2019, police claimed to have killed 10 Maoists in an encounter in Tadballa, Abujhmad. However, villagers described it as a premeditated attack, alleging that the bodies of young victims were mutilated and female victims were possibly sexually assaulted before being killed.
One of the most infamous cases occurred in May 2013, when about 1,000 security personnel opened fire on tribals celebrating the Beej Pandum festival in Edsametta village, killing eight people. The police later claimed they were Maoists. However, an inquiry by a retired High Court judge ruled the encounter was fake and that none of the deceased were Maoists.
In June 2012, 17 people—including six minors—were killed by security forces in Sarkeguda village, Bijapur district, during a festival gathering. The government later admitted that none of the victims were Maoists.
These incidents highlight the ongoing allegations of fake encounters and extrajudicial killings in Bastar.
Translated from the Hindi original published by The Wire Hindi.
