Chhattisgarh wants to avoid Gujarat-like situation over 'fake encounter'

Chhattisgarh's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has said it would not arrest the police personnel who allegedly shot dead 5-7 tribals March 31 in Bijapur district, despite an official probe confirming that the villagers were branded as Maoists and killed.

'The government will not arrest the policemen involved in the killings of some civilians now as we do not want to create a Gujarat-like situation. Police personnel are fighting a battle in the interior Bastar region in extremely difficult situations,' Home Minister Ramvichar Netam told IANS Wednesday over telephone.

Netam's statement came after O.P. Rathore, the state's director general of police ordered a probe on May 5 into the alleged killings of innocent tribals by a police team in Bijapur's Santoshpur village.

The probe was ordered after locals alleged that at least 5-7 youth of Ponjer village were taken to Santoshpur by police for interrogation and some of them were shot while a few were axed to death.

'We exhumed some 4-5 bodies from a graveyard at Ponjer village Monday as part of the probe. An autopsy report confirms that three of them were hit by bullets at close range on the head and waist while others were axed to death,' a police officer monitoring the investigation told IANS.

'A police team had visited the Ponjer and Santoshpur villages on March 31, and on the basis of talks with the bereaved family members and information from the local police, it's certain that some police personnel crossed the limits and killed innocent villagers branding them as Maoists militants,' said the official.

He added that the 'probe has confirmed the involvement of policemen in civilian casualties on March 31 at Santoshpur. We don't like to toss up the issue, but it's a serious crime, Now the government has to decide whether the cops involved in killings should be arrested or not.'

The Chhattisgarh State Human Rights Commission has also sought a detailed report from the Bijapur district police chief about the civilian killings.

Bijapur and its neighbouring Dantewada districts are considered havens of Maoist guerrillas. The police estimate that about 4,000 hardcore militants armed with landmines and AK-47s operate mainly in the forested stretch.

Local media reports say that at least 250 tribals of Santoshpur village and about 350 tribals of Ponjer fled to unknown locations last week fearing the police would repeat the March 31 brutality.

(Source: IANS, May 9, 2007)