4 min readRaipurUpdated: Sep 6, 2026 03:06 AM IST
Thirteen years after a Maoist attack in Bastar’s Jhiram Ghati killed 27 people and nearly wiped out the Chhattisgarh Congress leadership, a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Jagdalpur Saturday convicted 10 accused in the case. They will be sentenced on September 16.
An eleventh accused died during trial while another 28, named in the chargesheet as accused, have been listed as wanted.
The 10 who have been convicted are Pramila Modiyam, Chaitu Lekam alias Munna, Sumita alias Punem Modiyam, Mukka Mandvi, Kosa Kavasi alias Kosaram, Aayata Markam, Madkami Deva, Joga Madkami, Banjami Sanna alias Chamru and Mahadev Nag.
Among the prominent Maoists chargesheeted in the case but shown as wanted accused are Thippiri Tirupathi alias Devuji, a CPI (Maoist) politburo member who surrendered in Telangana in February this year; Barse Deva, who succeeded Madvi Hidma as commander of the PLGA Battalion 1, and surrendered in January this year; and Ganesh Uikey, a CPI (Maoist) central committee member who was killed in a December 2025 encounter in Odisha.
NIA judge Ajay Singh Rajput convicted the accused and the court will announce the sentences on September 16. Confirming this, Arvind Choudhary, the defence counsel for eight accused, said, “The quantum of punishment will be declared on September 16. Once we get the order, we will go through it and will decide on approaching the High Court against it.”
In first remarks on the court order, former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister and Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel said, “It feels like this is incomplete justice.” He alleged that the NIA removed the names of top Maoist leaders from the FIR. He questioned why the alleged political conspiracy angle was never probed.
(News agency ANI quoted Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma saying that the court decision validated the NIA investigation. “When the case was given to the NIA for investigation, the UPA government was in power at the Centre. It was their government. In the state of Chhattisgarh, there was a BJP government. The BJP government immediately transferred the case to the NIA within two days so that no one would have any doubts,” he said.)
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The Jhiram Ghati attack took place on May 25, 2013, when over 150 Maoists ambushed a Congress Parivartan Rally convoy and killed several people, including Mahendra Karma, who was instrumental in founding the banned anti-Maoist militia Salwa Judum; state Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel and his son Dinesh; and senior leader and former MLA Uday Mudliyar.
According to investigators, the attack near the inter-district border of Bastar and Sukma districts was primarily aimed at Karma.
According to the NIA chargesheet, the attack was meticulously planned as part of the banned CPI (Maoist)’s Tactical Counter Offensive Campaign (TCOC). Maoist commanders conspired during meetings in early 2013 to target “class enemies”, specifically targeting Karma.
The Maoists triggered a landmine blast beneath a red Bolero vehicle, creating a 5-foot-deep crater and blocking the road with a stalled truck. Surrounding hilltops were used to rain indiscriminate gunfire and throw grenades on the trapped 20-vehicle convoy for nearly two hours.
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The 27 people killed included 10 security personnel. Police records show that the Maoists also looted a 9 mm pistol with two magazines and 20 rounds, two AK-47 rifles with 14 magazines and 455 rounds, 10 hand grenades and communication sets.
The NIA took over the investigation two days after the attack. On September 25, 2014, it filed a chargesheet against nine arrested accused before the NIA Special Court in Jagdalpur.
On September 28, 2015, it filed a supplementary chargesheet against another 30 accused. A total of 11 accused were arrested in the case but one of them died during trial. At least 28 more accused who were chargesheeted are wanted in the case.
The trial lasted more than a decade, with at least 294 hearings. After final arguments were completed this month, the NIA court delivered its judgment Saturday.
