Nine years after Jheeram attack, Chhattisgarh CM inaugurates memorial in Bastar

“Our senior leaders had stepped out for parivartan (change) and were brutally killed. But we feel their presence amidst us,” Baghel said at the event. “Everyone in the state is getting nyay (justice) now. People of the state are happy. Our leaders would be happy to see the state now and would surely be blessing us,” he added.

Nine years ago, the attack virtually wiped out the entire state leadership of the Congress, including state president Nand Kumar Patel and senior leaders Vidyacharan Shukla and Mahendra Karma. The attack – over 300 Maoists attacked the Parivartan Yatra that the Congress leaders had embarked on – took place under the Raman Singh-led BJP government.

At the time, the Congress had alleged that the attack was part of a political conspiracy targeting the party leadership in the state before the elections. An SIT created for investigating the massacre submitted its report to the governor in November 2021. The report was eventually submitted to the state government, which said it was incomplete. The state government then expanded the commission and its scope of enquiry which was stayed by the Chhattisgarh High Court earlier this month.

The BJP, now in opposition, has levied allegations against the Congress of obstructing the free and fair investigation in the report. “Why is the government not making the report public? They want to manipulate the inquiry to protect their own,” BJP spokesperson Sanjay Shrivastava said.