A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar district on Wednesday sentenced 10 convicts to death in the 2013 Jhiram Valley Maoist attack case, in which 29 people, including senior Congress leaders, were killed.
Special judge Ajay Singh Rajput of the NIA court in Jagdalpur pronounced the sentence after convicting the 10 accused on September 5 under various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Arms Act and the Explosive Substances Act, and reserving the order on sentencing for September 16.
The 10 convicted accused are Pramila Modiyam alias Jyoti, Chaitu Lekam alias Munna, Sumita alias Punem Modiyam, Mukka Mandvi, Kosa Kawasi alias Kosaram, Aayata Markam, Madkami Deva, Joga Madkami, Banjami Sanna alias Chamru and Mahadev Nag. Trial proceedings were initiated against 11 arrested accused in the case, one of whom died during the proceedings.
“The court awarded death penalty for all the convicts today. The order copy of the order is awaited,” NIA’s advocate Dinesh Panigrahi said.
{{/usCountry}}“The court awarded death penalty for all the convicts today. The order copy of the order is awaited,” NIA’s advocate Dinesh Panigrahi said.
{{/usCountry}}Maoists had ambushed the Congress party’s ‘Parivartan Rally’ on May 25, 2013, in Jhiram Valley along the national highway in Bastar, ahead of the Chhattisgarh assembly elections.
According to the NIA, the attack involved an IED blast, indiscriminate firing and grenade attacks, in which 29 people, including Congress leaders, civilians and security personnel, were killed and more than 35 others injured. Those killed included then-state Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel and his son Dinesh, former leader of Opposition in the assembly Mahendra Karma, former Union minister Vidya Charan Shukla, and senior Congress leader and former MLA Uday Mudliyar. However, then chief minister Amit Jogi escaped with injuries.
The attack that shook the Chhattisgarh Congress
Maoist cadres also looted arms and ammunition, walkie-talkie sets, mobile phones and other belongings from the deceased and injured, the agency said.
The NIA said its investigation established that armed cadres of the CPI (Maoist), in connivance with local committees and divisions, were part of a criminal conspiracy to attack and kill senior Congress leaders and security personnel travelling in the convoy as part of the outfit’s Tactical Counter Offensive Campaign (TCOC).
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The investigation also named several senior CPI (Maoist) leaders in connection with the attack. Among them were Thippiri Tirupathi alias Devuji, a senior Maoist leader; Barse Deva, a senior commander; and Ganesh Uikey, a CPI (Maoist) Central Committee member. Other senior leaders, including former CPI (Maoist) general secretary Muppala Lakshman Rao alias Ganapathi and Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee leader Ravula Srinivas alias Ramanna, were also named during the investigation, though their status in the final chargesheet differed.
The NIA initially filed its main chargesheet against nine accused on September 25, 2014, and a supplementary chargesheet against 30 others on September 28, 2015, naming a total of 39 accused. The initial trial against 10 chargesheeted accused was completed after recording the evidence of 101 prosecution witnesses, the agency said.