Raipur: A case has been registered in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district’s Darbha Valley ambush on Congress leaders, in which 27 people, including lawmaker Mahendra Karma, was killed on May 25, 2013, allegedly by outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) members.
Jitendra Mudliyar, son of slain Congress leader Uday Mudliyar, filed a complaint and the case was registered on Tuesday under Section 302 (murder) and Section 120(B) (criminal conspiracy) of the India Penal Code (IPC), the police said.
“We’ve registered a case against unknown persons on Tuesday. An investigation will be carried out,” said Sunderaj P, inspector-general of police (IGP), Bastar.
National Investigating Agency (NIA) is probing the case since 2013, and a charge sheet has also been submitted in an NIA Special Court.
In November 2019, NIA nabbed Maoist commander Sumitra Punem, who was allegedly involved in the ambush, and 26 more rebels are still wanted in the case.
Deepak Jha, superintendent of police (SP), Bastar, said Mudliyar has submitted a complaint. He has alleged that the 2013 killings were a criminal conspiracy and the case should be reinvestigated by another agency other than NIA in a bid to know the truth, the SP added.
“We’re waiting for NIA’s closure report. The agency didn’t record any statement from the victims’ family members. We’re suspicious of the conspiracy theory. The case needs to be reinvestigated. We’ve come to know through an RTI (Right to Information) petition that police were informed about the movement of the Maoist rebels on the day the incident occurred on May 25, 2013,” Mudliyar stated in his complaint.
{{/usCountry}}“We’re waiting for NIA’s closure report. The agency didn’t record any statement from the victims’ family members. We’re suspicious of the conspiracy theory. The case needs to be reinvestigated. We’ve come to know through an RTI (Right to Information) petition that police were informed about the movement of the Maoist rebels on the day the incident occurred on May 25, 2013,” Mudliyar stated in his complaint.
{{/usCountry}}According to an NIA charge sheet filed in 2014, the conspiracy of the ambush was hatched in a Maoist meeting held in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district in February 2013.
NIA had charge-sheeted senior Maoist commanders, including Surender, who headed the Darbha division committee; along with Barse Sukka, Hapka Manoj, Tippiri Tirupati, Kishore Korram and Modiyam Ramesh.