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Opposition MLAs raise slogans in Chhattisgarh Assembly over Pedia encounter
The Opposition claimed that most of those killed in the encounter in Pidia village in Bijapur district in May were innocent villagers, not Maoists
The Chhattisgarh legislative assembly witnessed noisy scenes on Wednesday as Congress MLAs questioned the government over the Maoist encounter in Pidia village in Bijapur district in May.
The Opposition claimed that most of those killed in the incident were innocent villagers, not Maoists.
On May 10, the Bijapur police said that 12 Maoists were killed, and two security personnel were injured in a fierce encounter that lasted over eight hours in the jungles of Pedia village.
Two days after the incident, villagers and activists raised questions on the claims of police alleging those killed were villagers who were later branded by police as Maoists
On Wednesday, during Question Hour, leader of Opposition Charan Das Mahant sought figures of Maoist-related incidents between December last year and June this year.
Replying to Mahant, deputy chief minister Vijay Sharma, who also holds the home portfolio, said that 273 such incidents, including 92 encounters, occurred during this period.
Sharma said 19 security personnel killed, 88 injured, 34 civilians killed by Maoists, 137 Naxalites gunned down, and 171 arrested.
Refuting the charges of Congress MLAs, Sharma said the Congress should stop supporting Maoists.
As on June 30 this year, 790 Naxalites are in jail, of whom, 765 are under trial and 25 are convicted, he added.
Later, Congress MLAs, including former minister Kawasi Lakhma and Vikram Mandavi, raised questions over the authenticity of the encounter near Pidia village in Bijapur district and alleged that innocent villagers engaged in tendu leaf collection were killed by the police.
Refuting their charges, the deputy CM raised an objection and asked them to desist from making such “unacceptable” statements.“The Congress should stop supporting Naxalites,” he said.
Subsequently, the Congress members started sloganeering, and demanded that the state government should stop targeting innocent tribals in the name of Maoists.
It is worth mentioning that after the encounter in May, a fact-finding team of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) visited Pedia village and its report claimed that the villagers clearly stated that it was by no means an encounter as claimed by the police but in fact a clear case of an extra-judicial killing by the security forces.
However, police had then refuted the claims in the report and said that all killed in the encounter were Maoists.
The fact-finding team comprised activists and tribal leaders which included Soni Sori, Rinchin, Hidme Madkam, Sukalu Kothari and Virendra Bharadwaj.
