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Journalism of Courage
Villagers of Chourenga lynched two men — Narinder Verma (33) and Raj Kumar Seth — here recently. Verma’s fault: He refused to join their protest against an upcoming sponge iron and steel rolling project, that promised employment to 200 persons.
The mob attacked his house, dragged him out and beat him to death — all in front of his mother Gayatri Devi and sister Anju. ‘‘I struggled to save my son from being beaten by 10 to 12 men. I knew each of them. They kept beating him even after he had died,’’ says Verma’s mother.
Seth, a project employee, accompanying Narinder, was also lynched. ‘‘I saw both bodies lying in front of Narinder’s house,’’ says sarpanch Sukh Chand Sonwani, but refuses to name the killers.
Narinder’s father Vishoba Ram says that ‘‘even the police refuse to stand up against angry villagers’’. Narinder, his father says, was summoned to a meeting by the villagers on September 29 and asked to stop support to the project management. When he refused, villagers got together and attacked their house, he says.
Around 4,000 villagers — mostly farmers — are opposed to the plant on one ground: Pollution. It seems Narinder had anticipated threat to his life. Less than a month ago, he had lodged a police complaint against half-dozen villagers.
Now, villagers go on to claim that Narinder was involved in several cases of kidnapping, rape and criminal assault. ‘‘He was preparing a crude bomb to attack villagers on September 29,’’ alleges one — a theory police term “concocted”.
The police arrested 12 persons on September 29, the night of the incident. SSP Raipur Ashok Juneja says: ‘‘At this stage, we didn’t want villagers to be provoked any further by sending everyone to the jail.’’ He admits that some persons Narinder had named in his complaint were the key accused in the FIR. ‘‘We have placed three policemen, including a Station House Officer K.B. Khatri, under suspension,’’ Juneja says.
