NHRC seeks BSF, Chhattisgarh police reply on villagers torture

The NHRC has sought a reply from BSF and Chhattisgarh Police on a complaint alleging that their personnel tortured villagers, molested women, including a minor, and arrested six schoolgirls on false charges of aiding a recent Naxal attack in Kanker district.

The NHRC has sought a reply from BSF and Chhattisgarh Police on a complaint alleging that their personnel tortured villagers, molested women, including a minor, and arrested six schoolgirls on false charges of aiding a recent Naxal attack in Kanker district.

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Taking cognizance of the matter, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued notices to the BSF Director General and Kanker district SP directing them to submit a "factual report" within six weeks.

The complaint was filed by a rights activist and lawyer Radhakanta Tripathy who alleged that security forces raided Panchangi and Aalor village in Kanker district on September 5-6 and tortured villagers asking them to give whereabouts of Maoists.

They not only beat up innocent villagers but carted some villagers, including women, to their camp and gave electric shocks to some of them during interrogation, Tripathy charged.

Six school girls were later arrested and charged with aiding a Maoist ambush that left three BSF personnel and two policemen dead on August 29.

"The youngest among the arrested girls is a student of class 10th," Tripathy alleged and sought NHRC intervention into the matter.