© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
The Chhattisgarh government tabled the findings of the one-member judicial panel report on 2013 Edesmetta encounter in the assembly on Monday.
The report by Justice V K Agarwal, a retired judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court who was asked to probe the incident, was submitted before the state cabinet in September 2021. The report said the security personnel “may have opened fire in panic”.
🗞️ Subscribe Now: Get Express Premium to access the best Election reporting and analysis 🗞️
The encounter
Eight tribals including four minors were killed on the intervening night of May 17 and 18, 2013 when CRPF opened fire on villagers who had gathered to celebrate beej pandum in Edesmetta in Chhattisgarh.
The incident occurred a week before the Maoist attack in Jhiram Ghati in Sukma district in which 27 people, including top state Congress leaders, were killed.
While the police denied the presence of Maoists in Edesmetta, the CoBRA claimed it had busted a Maoist hideout.
The report was eerily similar to that of the 2012 Sarkeguda encounter in which 17 tribals were killed by security forces. The Sarkeguda report was tabled in the assembly in December 2019.
What the report said
The report found that the death of CRPF constable, Dev Prakash, was due to friendly fire. The judicial panel found no proof that the villagers were armed and said the incident was a result of panic and misconception.
The report also suggested tips to avoid such instances in the future. “If the security forces were given enough gadgets for self-defence, if they had better intelligence from the ground and had they been careful, the incident could have been avoided,” the report stated.
It further suggested that security forces be taught modules to understand tribal culture and that they gathered intelligence through surrendered Maoists or informants. It also encouraged use of technology like drones for recce purposes.
Other judicial inquiries
Of the multiple judicial enquiries on Left Wing extremism in Chhattisgarh, five reports have primarily been much talked about: the Sarkeguda and Edesmetta encounters, the Jhiram Valley attack, the Madanwara attack and the incident of arson and violence in Tadmetla.
In Tadmetla, 259 houses in three villages were set on fire in March 2011. Three days after the arson, the convoy of late Swami Agnivesh was attacked in Dornapal, allegedly by Salwa Judum supporters.
In Rajnandgaon’s Madanwara, 29 police personnel including the then Superintendent of Police Vinod Chaubey were killed in a deadly ambush mounted by Maoists in 2009.
While the report on Sarkeguda encounter has already been tabled in the assembly, the Jhiram valley attack inquiry report, although submitted, is construed to be unfinished by the government. Additions to the scope of investigation and members in the commission were done by the government, after the report was submitted to the Governor, amidst much brouhaha.
It is noteworthy that while enough noise was raised over the two encounters, the Tadmetla and Madanwara reports were quietly presented before the cabinet.
The judicial commissions have found police excesses in both the encounters, but none of the reports speak about any action over the deaths of the tribals.
The BJP, which was in power at the time of the incidents, has commented that the state government might take decisions as they see fit. “The commission has submitted its report. After studying the content of it, if the government finds reason, they can take action,” BJP leader and former CM Raman Singh said after the Edesmetta report was tabled.
Newsletter | Click to get the day’s best explainers in your inbox
