Chhattisgarh: Questions raised on Silger 'encounter'; CSOs demand judicial probe

Questions have been raised on an 'encounter' in Silger on the inter-district border of Bijapur and Sukma in Bastar region of Chhattisgarh on Monday. Police had said three people were killed in the encounter and that the identity of the deceased—whether they were Maoists or civilians—was yet to be ascertained.

Videos of the firing incident, including the one in which local villagers can be heard saying that nine civilians had been killed in the firing by the security forces and that no Maoists were present at the spot and no exchange of fire had taken place, are doing the rounds on social media. The villagers said that almost one and a half dozen civilians had also been injured.

On Tuesday, civil society organisations condemned the killings and demanded a judicial probe into the incident as well as compensation for the families of the deceased. They also demanded registration of criminal cases on officials (if found guilty) responsible for the firing.

The incident occurred on Monday evening near the newly set up police camp at Silger. A big crowd of villagers had gathered in the area since Sunday night to oppose the camp.  

Bastar inspector general of police Sundarraj P. told media that the security forces had retaliated after Maoists who were part of the crowd fired at the camp taking cover of the villagers. He had confirmed three deaths, but said that it was not ascertained whether they were Maoists or civilians. There were no casualties among the security forces, he said, adding that the villagers were staging protests allegedly under the pressure of the Maoists.

However, in a video circulated on social media, local villagers said no Maoists were present on the spot and all the nine killed were civilians. They said six bodies were carried off by the villagers while three were taken away by the police.

THE WEEK could not get a response from IG Sundarraj, despite calls and text messages.

Ex-MLA and president of Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, Sunilam condemned the incident and demanded a probe by a judge of the high court. Murder charge should be pressed against responsible police officials and Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel should visit the spot and hold discussions with the locals, he said and added that the families of the deceased should be paid compensation of Rs 50 lakh each.

In a press statement, Sunilam claimed that the police had partially accepted that three were killed and six were missing and around 18 injured in the incident. He questioned why the police camp was set up forcibly on May 12 despite opposition from villagers.

The Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan also severely condemned the 'firing by security forces on the tribal villagers protesting the police camp set up in Silger' and demanded a time-bound probe by a retired judge into the incident. 

In a statement, Nandkumar Kashyap, Vijay Bhai, Sanjay Parate, Rinchin, Ramakant Banjare and Alok Shukla, demanded immediate payment of compensation to the villagers and arrangements of proper medical care for those injured.

“Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan opposes any kind of violence and expects that the government will hold extensive talks with the protesting villagers and provide solutions for their concerns and will also take strong steps to stop the oppression by the security forces,” the statement said.

The organisation also demanded that the state government retract the projects and security camps from Bailadila to Boghghat, so that the confidence of people in the government could be restored.

Head constable killed in Bijapur IED blast

Meanwhile, a head constable of the Bijapur district police was killed and another constable injured in a blast of improvised explosive device (IED) near village Ambeli under the Kutru police station area. A team of district police had gone out for an area domination exercise when they were caught in the blast, officials said. The deceased has been identified as head constable Kalendra Kumar Nayak, a resident of Narayanpur.