Three Odisha Adivasis Killed In Firing By Anti-Maoist Security Forces*
*By Countercurrents.org*
17 November, 2015
*Countercurrents.org*
*I*n a shocking incident on Sunday, three innocent villagers have allegedly
been killed in the encounter launched by Odisha’s elite anti-Maoist combat
force Special Operation Group (SOG) in western Odisha’s Kalahandi district.
On Sunday morning, a group of adivasis from Nisanguda village under
Jugasaipatna grampanchayat of Bhawanipatna block had gone to look for the
missing goats of panchayat wardmember Jay Majhi when they came under fire
from the SOG. Within minutes wardmember Majhi and two others — Jaya Shankar
Naik and Sukru Majhi — fell to the police bullets.
Two minor boys, Arjun Majhi and Ichhu Majhi, were seriously injured in the
firing. The two boys were first admitted to a local hospital in
Bhawanipatna and then taken to VSS Medical College and Hospita in Burla
town of Sambalpur.
The Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) has sought a report from the
state police on the killing of three villagers. OHRC directed the deputy
inspector general (DIG) of police in charge of south-western range to
conduct an inquiry into the incident and submit a report within four weeks.
The OHRC ordered the probe, while responding to petitions filed by two
human rights activists.
Meanwhile, the local police in Kalahandi district reiterated that the
security personnel did not kill the villagers and they (the villagers)
could have died during an exchange of fire between the security personnel
and the Maoists.
“According to preliminary inquiry, there was a heavy exchange of fire
between the security personnel and a group of Maoists. After the encounter,
the ultras fled from the spot. The three dead bodies were recovered during
a combing operation after the exchange of fire”, the superintendent of
police (SP), Kalahandi, Brajesh Singh said. The incident took place inside
a forest near Bhawanipatna, the headquarter town of the tribal-dominated
western Odisha district.
However, two survivors of the incident, both minor adivasi boys who had
received bullet injuries had said on Sunday that the police started firing
at them as soon as they (the security personnel) saw them.
In a similar incident on July 26 last, a couple identified as Duba Nayak
and his wife Budi Nayak were killed in firing by personnel of the Special
Operations Group and the Central Reserve Police Force, deployed for
anti-Maoist operation in Kotagarah block of Kandhamal district.
Since the couple were unable to get network on their mobile phones, they
had trekked the Ladima Hills to talk to their son, who was in Kerala. While
talking to their son over phone, they were hit by bullets.
Their son, Rahul Nayak, in his petition submitted before the State Human
Rights Commission, narrated that he had heard over phone their parents
screaming in pain. Next day, the villagers discovered their bullet-ridden
bodies.
*By Countercurrents.org*
17 November, 2015
*Countercurrents.org*
*I*n a shocking incident on Sunday, three innocent villagers have allegedly
been killed in the encounter launched by Odisha’s elite anti-Maoist combat
force Special Operation Group (SOG) in western Odisha’s Kalahandi district.
On Sunday morning, a group of adivasis from Nisanguda village under
Jugasaipatna grampanchayat of Bhawanipatna block had gone to look for the
missing goats of panchayat wardmember Jay Majhi when they came under fire
from the SOG. Within minutes wardmember Majhi and two others — Jaya Shankar
Naik and Sukru Majhi — fell to the police bullets.
Two minor boys, Arjun Majhi and Ichhu Majhi, were seriously injured in the
firing. The two boys were first admitted to a local hospital in
Bhawanipatna and then taken to VSS Medical College and Hospita in Burla
town of Sambalpur.
The Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) has sought a report from the
state police on the killing of three villagers. OHRC directed the deputy
inspector general (DIG) of police in charge of south-western range to
conduct an inquiry into the incident and submit a report within four weeks.
The OHRC ordered the probe, while responding to petitions filed by two
human rights activists.
Meanwhile, the local police in Kalahandi district reiterated that the
security personnel did not kill the villagers and they (the villagers)
could have died during an exchange of fire between the security personnel
and the Maoists.
“According to preliminary inquiry, there was a heavy exchange of fire
between the security personnel and a group of Maoists. After the encounter,
the ultras fled from the spot. The three dead bodies were recovered during
a combing operation after the exchange of fire”, the superintendent of
police (SP), Kalahandi, Brajesh Singh said. The incident took place inside
a forest near Bhawanipatna, the headquarter town of the tribal-dominated
western Odisha district.
However, two survivors of the incident, both minor adivasi boys who had
received bullet injuries had said on Sunday that the police started firing
at them as soon as they (the security personnel) saw them.
In a similar incident on July 26 last, a couple identified as Duba Nayak
and his wife Budi Nayak were killed in firing by personnel of the Special
Operations Group and the Central Reserve Police Force, deployed for
anti-Maoist operation in Kotagarah block of Kandhamal district.
Since the couple were unable to get network on their mobile phones, they
had trekked the Ladima Hills to talk to their son, who was in Kerala. While
talking to their son over phone, they were hit by bullets.
Their son, Rahul Nayak, in his petition submitted before the State Human
Rights Commission, narrated that he had heard over phone their parents
screaming in pain. Next day, the villagers discovered their bullet-ridden
bodies.
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