Santoshi Markam 
New Delhi: Security forces claimed to have had an encounter with Maoists in Kummam-Lekawada villages of Abujhmad on the border of Narayanpur and Bijapur districts of Chhattisgarh on December 11 and 12. They declared that seven Maoists were killed in the said encounter. However, as The Wire has reported before, tribal activists and villagers have alleged that five of the seven people killed were civilian farmers who were not associated with the Maoist movement.
Four minors were also confirmed to be injured in this alleged encounter. They were identified as R* (12 years old) and S* (eight years old) of Kummam village, C* (12 years old) of Lekwada village, and N* of Diwalur village.
According to locals, R was hit by a bullet in her throat, which was termed a ‘foreign particle’ in the medical report.
In the X-ray report, a bullet-like object could be seen stuck in the throat.
R’s x-ray.
R was referred to Raipur on December 17. On December 20, she underwent surgery at Raipur’s DKS Super Specialty Hospital and the bullet was removed from her throat. The medical report after this surgery specifically says that the doctors removed the ‘bullet’.
Hospital officials told The Wire Hindi that R’s condition is better than before and she is able to speak a little, but she is still in the intensive care unit. “After the surgery, the police took the bullet with them,” they said.
On December 17, the police issued a press note that claimed: “In order to save the life of senior Naxal [a term used interchangeably with ‘Maoist’] cadre Kartik, the Maoists used minors and villagers as human shields.”
After the surgery on Friday, December 20, Bastar Range inspector general of police Sundarraj P. said, “We have sent that metal piece for forensic examination. Ballistic examination will make it clear whether it is a bullet or shrapnel. As per the investigation so far, circumstantial evidence indicates that the Maoists used the villagers as human shields to save the life of their senior cadre, due to which these four were injured.”
The Wire Hindi has obtained a photo of the bullet removed from R’s neck after the surgery, which can be seen below.
A metallic object that looks like a bullet, which was removed upon surgery. Photo: Special arrangement.
Quoting a doctor who was part of the team that performed R’s surgery, the Indian Express wrote that the operation was complicated. “The nerves connected to the eyes, ears and head could have been affected. Therefore, extreme caution had to be taken.”
The doctor said the surgery lasted two and a half hours and the bullet was successfully removed from inside her neck. Soon after, the police took the bullet into their custody as evidence, officials said.
The operation was performed by a total of 12 doctors, including four anaesthetists. A copy of the doctors’ report obtained by The Wire states that a “bullet measuring 2.5 cm x 5 mm” was removed from R’s neck. This copy can be seen below.
The medical report on R’s surgery. Photo: By arrangement.
Two injured children in police custody?
Meanwhile, two other injured children, who were being treated in Dantewada, have reportedly been taken into police custody. Tribal activist Soni Sori told The Wire that two injured children, S and C, were discharged from Dantewada District Hospital around 1-2 pm on December 19. She took both the children and their family members to her home in Dantewada. Soon after, the police called her and asked her to hand over the children to them. Soni refused to hand them over.
“Following this the police began calling me every 15-20 minutes,” said Soni. “They harassed me a lot, mentally. They were talking about getting some tests done in the hospital. I was finally forced to take them to the hospital. They prescribed many tests there which we got done. In the evening I brought the boys to my brother’s house.”
She further added, “The next day I went home for some time while they were still at my brother’s house, during which period the police entered my brother’s house and took them away. I rushed there as soon as I got the information. When I saw the scene upon reaching there, it seemed that they had been forcibly taken away. The belongings were scattered and there had probably been a scuffle as well.”
“Later, when I somehow managed to contact their family members, I came to know that they had been locked away in a room in the hospital. The police kept trying to take them away while the family members kept resisting. Yet, they were forcibly made to sit in the police vehicle. When Sonu (who was shot in the head) fell down in the scuffle, he was picked up and shoved in the vehicle. When both the children started crying, a cloth was stuffed in each of their mouths,” Soni Sori said.
According to the activist, they were brought to the hospital from there and locked in a room on the upper floor. As they continued crying, they were brought to a room downstairs. To detain the children at the hospital, the police falsely got them declared as malaria patients, got canolas inserted in their hands and put them on a glucose drip.
The Wire Hindi tried to contact Dantewada superintendent of police, Gaurav Rai, but he did not take the call.
*Names of minors have been rescinded.
Translated from the Hindi original – published first on The Wire Hindi – by Naushin Rehman.