Jawans celebrate after successfully killing 10 Naxalites during an encounter in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma recently. | Photo Credit: ANI
Former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel on Wednesday (Dec 18, 2024) questioned the veracity of last week’s Abujamad encounter after it emerged that four minors were injured in a shootout between security forces and Naxalites.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Mr. Baghel attacked the BJP government in the state questioning how it hurt children and questioned the party’s record as far as the alleged fake encounters during its tenure were concerned.
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“How did these children get injured when the forces were fighting Naxals? Was it really an encounter or the killing of innocent people? The BJP government has a poor record regarding fake encounters. Many such incidents have taken place during his last tenure as well,’ he wrote.
On the 12th of November, the bodies of seven armed Maoists including five men and two women were recovered along with their weapons in the clash between the Maoists and the security personnel in the jungle hills of Kalhaja-Donderbera in the southern Abuzhmad area. In which Karthik was also present. The police have claimed that Karthik is being used as a human shield to save the life of civilians.
Unreasonable deadlines
In an apparent dig at Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s repeated assertion that Naxalism would be eradicated from the state by March 2026, Mr. Baghel warned against such “unreasonable deadlines”.
“I think the central government should take this issue seriously and direct the state government to be careful. Harm innocent tribal people should not be behind an over-ambitious plan to eliminate Maoists within an unreasonable time frame,” he wrote.
He also asked the Center to intervene and tag the official handles of Chief Minister Bishnu Dev Sai, Prime Minister’s Office and Union Home Minister’s office.
published – December 19, 2024 at 11:03 am IST