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Not Naxals, Security Forces Burnt 160 Homes in Chhattisgarh: CBI

Villagers recognised the police constables who had beaten/tortured the villagers, as mentioned in the report.

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Contradicting the state police’s claims, which held Naxalites responsible for setting ablaze 160 homes in Tadmetla village in Chattisgarh’s Sukma district, the CBI has held security forces responsible for the arson tragedy of March 2011, reported Indian Express.

The agency presented a status report on its investigation, informing a bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur that “160 houses in village Tadmetla were completely burnt during the police operation.” Seven special police officers have been chargesheeted in the case so far.

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26 Salwa Judum leaders have also been chargesheeted for an attack on Swami Agnivesh’s convoy, two weeks after the incident when he was trying to reach the village to provide relief.

These leaders are local position holders of parties like BJP and Congress, while some are also part of pro-police groups in Bastar like Vikas Sangharsh Samiti, Agni and the now disbanded Samajik Ekta Manch.

The Supreme Court declared the Salwa Judum and SPOs illegal in a batch of cases led by Nandini Sundar, an academic and social activist.

During the operations transpiring between 11-16 March in the three villages of Morpalli, Tadmetla and Timmapuram, more than 250 homes were set ablaze, three men were killed and three women were raped, Sundar argued.

In July 2011, a CBI inquiry was ordered by the court for these incidents.

One of the reports says that the tehsildar of Konta subdivision visited the villages in March 2011 for assessing the losses and found that “out of 207 villages, 160 houses in Tadmetla were completely burnt during a police operation.”

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Sukma had not been carved out as a separate district from Dantewada in 2011. The report says that villagers have said to been witness to ex-SPOs and now police constables Madkam Bheema, Vanjam Deva, Telam Nanda and Telam Kosha and others “beat/torture villagers and set their houses on fire.”

Regarding the attack on Swami Agnivesh in March 2011, the report says that the vehicles were stopped at Dornapal en route Sukma.

“On instigation of the Salwa Judum members, the mob surrounded the vehicle and raised slogans against Swami Agnivesh. The mob picked up the stones lying on the road for repair purpose and started pelting indiscriminately at all the vehicles parked there including the Scorpio in which Swami Agnivesh was sitting,” the CBI report said.

The police quickly took charge of the situation after the convoy and media vehicles were damaged, the report stated. Charges were framed under sections relating to rioting, causing hurt voluntarily, wrongful restraint and other related sections.

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Topics:  Supreme Court   CBI   Naxal 

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