Naxals release note explaining why they abducted collector

The Maoists have circulated a three page note called “why we detained the collector”, which seeks to justify the much decried move. According to a report in The Times of India, CPI (Maoist) South Bastar regional committee secretary Ganesh Uike said they were forced to issue the statement “to set the record straight after a group of so-called intellectuals, supported by vested interests, unleashed a propaganda to whip up sympathy in favour of the Sukma collector.” The note was circulated early on Friday morning, listing in detail their perception about the problems being faced by the tribals and incidents of alleged atrocities by the security forces in tribal Bastar region of Chhattisgarh. [caption id=“attachment_290929” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“The note is to counter ‘anti-Maoist propaganda’: Image from Menon’s Facebook Page”]  [/caption] “These people need to understand the reality on the ground and the manner in which the people are suffering state’s repression and the role of district collector in it”, Uike claimed, alleging that it was during the tenure of Alex Paul Menon that a tribal youth Podium Mada was first tortured in police custody and later murdered. Later, this murder was passed off as a suicide in police custody, he had told the newspaper. According to the Maoist release, the Sukma District Collector Alex Paul Menon remained silent when a former superintendent of police of Ankit Garg was bestowed with the President’s police medal on Republic Day, although he knew that Garg had tortured and killed a number of innocent people. The letter also targets the governments ongoing “gram Suraj’-a village outreach program. Calling the entire programme a farce, the Maoist leader alleged that the campaign was being carried out at the behest of the World Bank. He said the CPI (Maoist) had earlier given a call for a boycott of gram Suraj campaign. He also alleged that the government machinery, which also includes the district collector, were in fact trying to extend benefits to corporate houses by trying to hand over Bastar’s rich natural resources to them. Alleging that nearly 2000 villagers were languishing in jails of Dantewada, Jagdalpur, Raipur, and Rajnandgaon, Uike said 700 people were stuffed inside the Dantewada prison, which has a capacity to accommodate only 150 inmates. Besides, the rebels also alleged that the police had slapped false cases against a large number of people and the security were continuously violating human rights in the tribal areas.