Chhattisgarh: Maoist group calls encounter that killed 4 Naxals as 'fake & fabricated'

Communist Party of India (Maoist) has claimed that the 4 Naxalites killed in an encounter with security personnel in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district is 'fake and fabricated'. In a press release by the banned organisation, the outfit claimed that police has instead killed 4 innocent villagers and not Naxalites in the fake encounter.

The letter bearing names of the alleged 'Maoists' neutralized in the encounter also demanded a magisterial probe into the matter. The guilty should be punished, it claimed. The deceased were identified in the letter as Mandvi Mata, Kudiam Dinesh, Adupara Sodhi Kesu and Madkam Raju.

The face-off reportedly took place in a forest under Jangla police station area when separate teams of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were out on an anti-Naxal operation, police has said.

The letter also accused the BJP in the state of indulging in anti-tribal activities. It said the forest dwellers and tribals are being exploited and dislodged from jungles and war like situations have been created. There is increased surveillance over forest cover with the help of drones, patrolling by shield cover vehicles by the security forces. A large part of forest cover in the south of Bastar region has been deforested in the name of combing operation by the government. It is posing great threat to wildlife and forest both, the press release said.

Refuting the charges as baseless, the state media co-incharge Anurag Agrawal said home affair minister Vijay Sharma had invited the Maoists for a dialogue but in vain. Naxalites are facing the heat and tough time since the BJP government came to power in Chhattisgarh.

Senior police officials on the condition of anonymity disclosed that the deceased were committee members and their names find mention in police protocol.