Minister for forests, Chhattisgarh, Mohd Akbar wrote to Madhya Pradesh (MP) chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday, demanding a high-level probe into death of a tribal man from Chhattisgarh who was allegedly killed in an anti-Maoist operation by police in Balaghat district of MP on September 6. HT has seen a copy of the letter.
A resident of Balsamund village of Kabirdham district of Chhattisgarh, Jham Singh Dhurve, 45, was allegedly killed in an encounter with police on Bansbehra area of Kanha tiger reserve of Balaghat district on September 6.
Talking to media persons on Tuesday the minister confirmed that he had written to the MP CM on Monday, demanding a probe into the death.
The minister states in the letter, “In a preliminary inquiry, Jhalmala police of Kabirdham district in Chhattisgarh have pointed out that MP police allegedly opened unprovoked firing on two tribals in which one of the tribals was killed. I wrote a letter to you (MP CM) in this regard but so far I haven’t received any reply about any action being taken by MP government. It is a very serious matter regarding murder of an innocent tribal and attempt to murder another one.”
“Due to no action by MP government on this even after a week of the incident, there is massive resentment in the tribal community in this region”, said Akbar, who is an MLA from Kawardha in Kabirdham district.
{{/usCountry}}“Due to no action by MP government on this even after a week of the incident, there is massive resentment in the tribal community in this region”, said Akbar, who is an MLA from Kawardha in Kabirdham district.
{{/usCountry}}Talking to media persons, Jham Singh’s son Narendra Singh said, “My father had gone fishing in Kanha Tiger reserve area, which is 5km from my village, with Naim Singh Dhurve on September 6. Naim Singh informed the family that they were returning to the village in the evening when police stopped them. They panicked and started running away. The police personnel opened fire on them. Naim Singh succeeded in saving himself but my father died.”
Balaghat’s Baihar constituency MLA Sanjay Uikey also raised questions on the encounter and demanded action against the guilty for “killing an innocent tribal man”.
Balghat superintendent of police Abhishek Tiwari said, “We received information regarding movement of two Maoists in Bansbhera area of Kanha Tiger Reserve. Police cordoned off the area. The members of Vistardalam started firing at the police. In reply, the police also fired at them. On September 7, an additional force was called and in the search operation, the body of 45-year-old man was found. Raw food and a rifle were found near his body. Later, the district collector Deepak Arya ordered a magisterial inquiry in the matter.”
MP’s director general of police (DGP) Vivek Johri said, “It was not a fake encounter. The police took action after receiving information from reliable sources.”
Principal secretary to chief minister of MP, Manish Rastogi said, “The claims of the Chhattisgarh minister are baseless. A magisterial inquiry is going on. Any further action in the matter will be taken after the inquiry report.”