Odisha: Three killed in Kalahandi ‘encounter’ innocent, had no Maoist link, say villagers

Two days after his son was shot dead along with two other villagers deep inside the forests of Kalahandi, Rasa Majhi refuses to believe the police claim that his son, a ward member, had links with the Maoists. On Sunday morning, Jaya Majhi (50) — a ward member from Panchkul village under Jugasaipatna gram panchayat — was shot dead along with Hari Shankar Nayak, a Dalit from Panchkul, and Shukru Majhi, a tribal from the neighbouring Nisanguda village. Jaya, along with his brother Arjun Majhi and three others, had reportedly gone looking for missing goats. While Arjun and another tribal boy, Pichu Majhi, were injured, Jaya, Hari Shankar and Shukru were shot dead by a 19-member team of the Special Operation Group (SOG).

Later, Kalahandi police claimed that four single-barrel muzzle-loader guns and kit bags with Maoist literature were recovered from them. After the incident, the district administration ordered a probe by an additional district judge, while Odisha Human Rights Commission called for a report from the DIG within four weeks.