Karam Sannu (27), brother of a head constable at Tipenar in Bijapur district of south Chhattisgarh, was hacked to death by cadres of the outlawed CPI (Maoist) recently. In the same district, Maoists killed villager Lacha Punem at Pusnar and Situ Mandvi at Kasnar. The banned outfit suspected the three as police informers. The civilians continue to face the brutalities of the left-wing extremists as soft targets. They are put to death in the Maoists’ jan adalat (kangaroo court). Villagers die if they accidentally step on planted improvised explosive device (IED). This year 38 local inhabitants in Bastar zone have been killed so far, according to police data. There were incidents in which villagers caught in a crossfire between the security forces and Maoists get killed, but such incidents are rare.
The incidents of non-combatants violently eliminated in the conflict-ridden Bastar zone remain a harsh reality. In 2005 with the launch of the controversial Salwa Judum (anti-Maoists peace campaign) movement in Bastar, there was a spurt in civilian casualties — 968 local people were killed till 2010, according to police data. During these six-year duration, the worst violence was inflicted on the naive inhabitants. Besides the Maoists attacking the villagers, youths appointed as special police officers (SPOs) under Salwa Judum were allegedly involved in targeting the local people who refused to follow their diktat. After the Supreme Court termed appointment of tribals as SPOs and arming them as unconstitutional, the Salwa Judum movement was disbanded in 2011.
As the battle against Maoists continues in the conflict-ridden Bastar, civilian deaths keep happening though there is a perceptible decline in the casualties, with 533 reported since 2014 onwards, according to government data. As the battle against Maoists continues in the conflict-ridden Bastar, civilian deaths keep happening though there is a perceptible decline in the casualties, with 533 reported since 2014 onwards, according to government data. “In Bastar Range, though civilian killings have reduced to a great extent since 2014, it is still an area of major concern in left-wing extremism-affected areas. The Maoists are grossly mistaken that such killings would deter other villagers who have realised the malicious face and hollow ideology of the banned organisation. Maoists would be remembered only for brutal killings of hundreds of innocent civilians,” said Sundarraj P, IGP (Bastar Range).
Brigadier (retd) BK Ponwar, a guerrilla warfare expert, said, “The soft targets cannot retaliate. Maoist cadres surrendering, getting caught or killed frustrate them, so they look for soft options. Even the IEDs are the easiest weapon for them to inflict damage.” As of July, 162 Maoist deaths were reported in India this year amid renewed military offensive. Of these, 141 were from Chhattisgarh. This is among the highest number of casualties suffered by Naxals in the tribal state since the formation of the CPI (Maoist) in 2004.
