Dantewada killings: Centre sought NIA probe into ‘such petitions’, state questioned ‘similarity’ in complaints

Kumar’s 2009 petition alleged that 17 tribals had been killed by security forces in three separate incidents, in the villages of Velpocha, Nalkathong, Gompad and Gachanpalli, on September 17 and then October 1, 2009. The Centre argued that they were killed by Naxalites.

Kumar said family members of the deceased and other eyewitnesses had seen security forces attack the tribals with bayonets, shoot them at close range, and mutilate the bodies. One of the petitioners, Sambho Sodi, said she was shot in the leg by the forces, while the petition also alleged that a minor boy’s hand was chopped off.

The Centre’s petition said Kumar and the 12 other petitioners (all relatives of the deceased or eyewitnesses) were trying “to provide a legal protective shield to members of Left Wing Extremist outfits”.

Individuals and organisations are “conspiring, abetting and facilitating filing of petitions premised on false and fabricated evidence… with a motive to either deter the security agencies to act against the Left Wing (Naxal) militia by imputing false charges on them or to screen off the Left Wing (Naxal) militia from being brought to justice by creating a false narrative of victimization before the Hon’ble Courts”, the Centre said in its petition to the apex court.

The Centre cited the statements recorded by G P Mittal, the district judge of Tis Hazari Court, Delhi, in 2010 – on an order of the apex court – to argue that the killings were done by Naxals.

“It is surprising to note that none of the petitioners have made any allegations against the members of the security forces. In fact, they have clearly mentioned that none of them were even present at the place of such crimes as they had all run away in the jungle upon hearing the sound of firing,” the Centre noted.

The Chhattisgarh government and the CRPF’s anti-Naxal unit CoBRA also filed replies in the case. Both denied all allegations of torture and murder, and claimed encounters with Naxalites in all the three incidents.

“…the attack on the police party by the Naxalites has been sought to be given the connotation of ‘massacre’,” the Chhattisgarh government said.

On the incident at Gachanpalli on September 17, the state government said a team of CoBRA and police had cordoned off a Naxal camp at the village, and were fired at and had to retaliate in self-defence. It said that once the Naxals had retreated, several arms and ammunition were recovered from the spot.

Similarly, on the same day, the state government said, a police party was ambushed near Singanmadgu village and opened fire in self-defence. It said that police personnel had been killed in the incident, adding: “One dead body of Madavi Deva was identified who died during the crossfire between the Naxalites and the Police.”

Madavi Deva was mentioned as one of the innocent victims by the petitioners.

The state also raised questions over the complaints it received from relatives of the four who died in Gachanpalli village. “The nature of the complaints is full of suspicion because all the complaints are in the same format and typed in the same manner, giving rise to suspicion that certain organisations sympathetic to Naxalites or Naxalite-oriented organisations are behind the lodging of such complaints,” the government said.

On the Gompad incident on October 1, the state again said that a police party came under heavy fire from Naxals in the village and had to retaliate. “The attack was repulsed and the place was searched. Police did not find anybody. Afterwards the village was also searched but everyone fled away,” it said.

On complaints from kin of the deceased, the state government said these had been filed very late and all had been composed in a similar manner.

It denied allegations of chopping of hands of a minor, stabbing of a 70-year-old blind man, killing of a villager by putting him in hot oil, or having paraded some of the villagers after tying them up. It said no complaint had been filed about the burning of Muchaki Deva in hot oil, and that this was only in the press releases of civil rights organisations. It said the claim that Deva had been taken to Bhadrachalam by the organisations for treatment could not be corroborated as doctors in the region had denied treating any such patient.

It also said that FIRs had been filed in all the cases, but when police went to inquire, no complainant came forward.

CoBRA too replied on similar lines. On Gachanpalli killings, it said no civilian was killed or injured, including a two-year-old and a 70-year-old. “However, it is a known fact that Naxalites often use civilians as human shield,” it said.

It also suggested that Naxals may have killed villagers wearing security force uniforms. “There are frequent reports of murder and torture of innocent people by Naxalite cadres to terrorise the masses in the name of Maoist ideology, and it has also been informed by intelligence sources that Naxalites are seen in security force uniforms in this region,” CoBRA said.