A 65-year-old man was killed allegedly by a small Maoist action team in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district in the Naxal-affected Bastar region on Monday evening.
The man, identified as Kalmu Hidma, was the father-in-law of former MLA Manish Kunjam. He was killed at Pentapad village under the jurisdiction of Chintagufa police station.
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Maoists allegedly claimed responsibility for the killing in a letter. According to police, Hidma was an influential figure in the village.
A visibly upset Kunjam told reporters, “Such heinous violence has no place in any society. I know my father-in-law, he was a simple and innocent person… Violence will give rise to more violence.”
“Those who murdered him must introspect… Who was he? What had he done? Was he a police informer? Was he instigating people against them (Maoists)? Did they (Maoists) do any investigation? Due to such murders, the public is going against them. Today, if people are not opposing the forces, they (Maoists) must understand the people are fed up of such violence… The youngsters who are doing this have no idea about the ideologies of Marx and Mao. They think they are bringing revolution, but it’s just violence,” the former two-time Communist Party of India MLA from Konta, in Sukma district, said.
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The total number of civilians killed in Maoist attacks in Chhattisgarh this year has now gone up to 14 – all of them in Bastar.
Security forces have recently stepped up operations against Maoists, with 20 encounters taking place in Bastar region this year, leaving 67 Maoists killed. Eleven security personnel have also lost their lives in these encounters.
The year has also seen the surrender of 179 Maoists and the arrest of another 218.
The man, identified as Kalmu Hidma, was the father-in-law of former MLA Manish Kunjam. (Express) 
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