Faraway tales of love and valour

In June 2005, Kutru, a small village of Bijapur, witnessed an unprecedented gathering of thousands of tribals wielding bows and arrows, axes and spears, shouting anti-Naxalite slogans. This operation was named Salwa Judum, a gondi word meaning ‘peace mission’. They vowed to uproot and banish the Naxalites from their homeland. This message spread like prairie fire in the jungle villages of west and south Bastar. The clarion call ‘Oust Naxalites and save Bastar’ by the tribals of the area under their influence came as a source of shock and disbelief to the Naxalites.

The killings suddenly soared. Although the maximum number of Naxalites were killed in exchange of fire in Chhattisgarh in 2006-07, 82 policemen from different security forces deployed in Bastar and as many as 67 special police officers (SPOs) laid down their lives from October ’06 to September ’07.

Jagargunda is one of the worst Maoist-affected interior police stations of Dantewada, a South Bastar district of Chhattisgarh. Virtually cut off from all sides, there is no public and private transport to ferry people or material from Jagargunda or nearby villages. Telephone lines are non-existent. Every time the police digs out a few hand-triggered landmines or pressure mines, fresh ones are easily laid down again by the Naxalites on almost totally damaged kuchcha roads. With the coming up of a CRPF post on one of the approach roads at Aranpur, about 18 kms from Jagargunda, the Salwa Judum activists and surrounding villagers mustered the courage to repair it to make it motorable. At least three policemen sacrificed their lives this year while de-mining the road.

The people had seen a sea change in their lives after Inspector Hemant Mandavi’s short stint in the Jagargunda police station. When I had visited the police station, the villagers requested me not to transfer the inspector for at least the next three years. He had undertaken many courageous anti-Naxal operations and was given out-of-turn promotion for his outstanding work, of which his peers were envious.

The Naxalites had also severely damaged the about 25 km-long Jagargunda-Chintalnar-Chintagufa road, another approach road to Jagargunda, at many places, and planted landmines during the ‘Maoist’s martyrs’ week’. Waiting for the Public Works Department would have been futile. Therefore, the villagers decided to undertake this Herculean task themselves.

On August 29 ‘07, Inspector Mandavi, along with 200-odd villagers, with spades and picks, reached a spot where they recovered nine pressure bombs from underneath the road and partially undertook its patchwork. As they had to reach back to the nearby Chintalnar police post before dusk, they retreated at about 2 pm. While the first police party advanced with the villagers, the second party waited for about half an hour and as they proceeded, a few shots were fired upon them by the Naxalites. Hemant and his team decided to chase them into the thick jungles where he and his team were ambushed and attacked at Tadmetla by the Naxalites who had already taken their positions on the morchas. Hemant fought to his last breath but the police party was outflanked and succumbed to bullet injuries. The police force lost four zealous police officers, Inspector Hemant Mandavi, three policemen of the 9th Chhattisgarh Armed Battalion and eight SPOs.

The villagers couldn’t believe they had lost their hero forever. His parents, who were looking for a suitable match for his marriage, were left in stunned silence. My mind could not accept the death of the valiant and charismatic policeman and my hand rose in salute to him for his sacrifice.

Hemant’s belongings uncovered his personal diary which says “Kabhi darte the maut ke naam se, aaj maut ko apna humdum samajhte hain”. He never feared death, but perhaps God had other plans for him.

In another incident on December 21 ’06, at Gorgunda near Dornapal, on the Sukma-Konta road, three SPOs made the supreme sacrifice fighting Naxalites. The area to the west of the Sukma-Konta National Highway had been under the constant influence of the Naxalites. The Naxalites used to operate a naaka not very far off the highway. The Dornapal Salwa Judum Rehabilitation Camp was constantly under the threat of Naxal attack. To undo the fear of this threat, we decided to establish a forward security base at a place called Pollampalli, about 13 km from the highway. The only school building in that area had become a target of the Naxalites. It was razed to the ground by a series of explosions. In the absence of any infrastructure at Pollampalli, sub-divisional police officer, Rajesh Pawar, camped in the village till the police barracks and morchas were set up.

As the area was vulnerable to cerebral malaria, a few SPOs fell severely ill. When the tractor carrying the ill SPOs was returning to Dornapal, the Naxalites triggered a landmine near Gorgunda, killing the three SPOs on the spot. The police party retaliated and killed at least one Naxalite. The explosion was so powerful that a huge crater was formed on the road, throwing the tractor high in the sky. One Mizo jawan also got injured in the attack. While being evacuated in the helicopter, he pledged to fight with even more valour after recovering. The SPOs, presently the eyes and ears of the police force in Bastar, showed no signs of despair even after losing three of their co-warriors.

This piece is adapted from R.K. Vij’s book ‘Shraddhanjali’ (Pankaj Printers, Jagdalpur, 2007) which documents Maoist attacks in which policemen have died between October ’06 and September ’07 in Bastar