A day after it was revealed that four children were injured in an “encounter” between security forces and armed Maoists in Chhattisgarh’s Abujamad on December 12, former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel appealed to the BJP-led state and central governments to “take caution”. Ensure that children are not harmed because of an “unrealistic deadline” for ending Naxalism.
He was referring to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement about eliminating Left Wing Extremism (LWE) by March 2026.
Senior Congress leader Baghel posted on X, “How did these children get injured while fighting Naxals? Was it a real encounter or the killing of innocent people? BJP government has a bad record regarding fake encounters. There have been many such incidents in its last tenure as well. The issue should be taken seriously.” I believe that the government should take it seriously and instruct the state government to take precautions. No harm should be done.”
He also tagged the official handles of Chief Minister Vishnu Dev Sai, Prime Minister’s Office and Home Minister’s Office.
Soni Sori, a tribal activist and resident of Bastar region, visited the village where the clashes took place. Although he claimed it was a “staged encounter”, security forces issued a statement on Wednesday night saying the children were injured as the Maoists used them as “human shields” during the encounter. According to the police, he suffered head, buttock and neck injuries due to shrapnel from the barrel grenade launcher (BGL) fired by the Maoists.
Baghel’s comments on X came after a similar social media post by former deputy chief minister and senior Congress leader TS Singh Dev. On this, Deo said: “As I said on December 15 targeting causes such dangers. The Naxal problem needs to be solved but not at the cost of the lives of common citizens. Poor innocent tribals and other civilians living in the area cannot be casualties because some people have targeted them. Innocent civilians should not be allowed to be collateral damage. I hope these children are well taken care of and the government will provide the best treatment available. So many seriously injured people have reached Raipur only yesterday. This is very sad.
The Indian Express It was reported that four children were injured in the clash between the army and the Maoists. Among them was a minor girl from Rekavaya village, who sustained a suspected bullet or shrapnel wound on her neck, which is still sticking out.
Two days after the shooting, the girl was taken to CHC in Bijapur on December 14 and then shifted to Jagdalpur in Bastar, 100 km away, and finally brought to Raipur, 300 km from Bastar, on Monday night. The girl has been admitted to DKS Hospital. A duty doctor at DKS Hospital said that the “foreign object” was stuck in a “very important place”.
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