Girl with ‘foreign object’ lodged in neck among 4 children injured in Abujhmad encounter that killed 7 Maoists

Late on Monday night, a minor girl was brought to a multi-speciality hospital in Raipur after being referred there from another city hospital that said she had an “accidental gunshot injury” and that a foreign object was seen in her neck.

A senior police officer from Narayanpur district, where the December 12 encounter took place, told The Indian Express: “Four minors have suffered splinter injuries in the encounter. The injuries are from splinters in the Barrel Grenade Launcher (BGL) fired by Maoists. One of them, a girl, suffered a serious injury on her neck, so she was referred to Raipur.”

Police said a separate case would be filed against the Maoists “for injuring the children”.

The girl’s father, who speaks only Gondi, told The Indian Express: “I don’t know what happened. My girl had gone to the farm when she was hit by something and she fell unconscious. We then took her to a doctor who sent us here.”

She was initially taken to a community health centre at Bhairamgarh in Bijapur, after which she was moved 113 km to a hospital in Jagdalpur, and from there, she was brought to Raipur, 305 km away.

An official at the Raipur hospital said, “The girl is extremely lucky. It’s a rare case. Her condition is stable and she can move around. At present her nerves and vessels are safe, but the foreign object is stuck in a very critical spot. We will make a decision soon on whether we need to operate on her or not.”

The other three injured children were boys, according to sources, who said they had wounds on their neck and back.

Reacting to the news of the injuries to children, former deputy CM and senior Congress leader T S Singh Deo said, “…Setting targets leads to such dangers. Solving the Naxal problem is a necessity but not at the cost of the lives of ordinary citizens. Poor innocent tribals and other citizens living in the region cannot become casualties because targets are being set by some people.”

“Innocent citizens cannot be allowed to become collateral damage. I hope these children are taken good care of and provided best treatment available by the government,” he said in a post on X.