The ghosts of Salwa Judum refuse to leave Chhattisgarh
A pall of gloom hung in the air in Judumpara as a small crowd
gathered at the home of Jaidev Yadav, an assistant police constable
killed by the Maoists. Yadav was posted in the police station of Kutru
in Bijapur district, part of the southern region of Chhattisgarh where
armed tribal rebels belonging to the CPI Maoist have been engaged in a
protracted war with government forces. On 13th July, along with his
colleague Raju Telam, Yadav went to the district headquarters to collect
his salary. In the evening, both the men boarded a bus to return to
Kutru.
Mid-way, the bus was stopped by armed Maoist cadres, who singled out
the two men and took them hostage. Two other assistant constables Rama
Majji and Mangal Sodi, who were following the bus on their motorbike,
were also taken into custody. Two days later, four bodies were found on
the main Bijapur-Kutru road, bruised and riddled with bullet wounds. The
killing of the four assistant constables has sent shockwaves through
Judumpara, which is home to several police families. “Whenever they
leave their base station to the district headquarters or other places,
we always live in fear for their lives,” said Puja Kashyap. Her husband
Timichand Kashyap is also posted at Kutru as an assistant constable.
“Coincidentally my husband did not go to Bijapur with the rest that day,
otherwise I would have been widowed as well,” she said.
No comments:
Post a Comment