Jheeram valley attack: Congress flays NIA, seeks CBI probe

Raipur: Opposition Congress today demanded a CBI probe into killing of its leaders by Maoists in Jheeram valley in 2013, alleging the probe conducted by the National Investigation Agency is “disappointing” and “incomplete”. “We can infer from the final chargesheet filed by NIA that the agency did not conduct proper investigation into the case. The NIA report is disappointing,” said Chhattisgarh state unit Congress president Bhupesh Baghel.[caption id=“attachment_2048819” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The deadly attack. PTI[/caption] Addressing reporters in Raipur, Baghel alleged NIA did not question any officers, including Darbha police station incharge, Bastar SP, IG, ADGP, during the course of investigation. “The NIA report is also silent on the fact that state government had complete information beforehand about the ‘Parivartan Yatra’,” he said. The NIA report says naxals used sophisticated weapons to gun down people in the rally but the agency recovered crude weapons during the investigations. “The state government had said in Legislative Assembly that 550 police personnel were accompanying the rally. If that is the case then why did they not retaliate during the attack. NIA report also keeps mum on this point,” Baghel said. He said the report failed to clarify why the ultras called out their victims by names and then shot them dead. The top state Congress leadership was almost wiped out in the ambush in Jheeram Ghati in Bastar district on 25 May 2013 in which 27 people were killed and 33 others injured. Among those killed were state unit president of party, Nandkumar Patel, former Union minister Vidyacharan Shukla, and ex-opposition leader Mahendra Karma. The demand for CBI probe had been raised by the kin of the victims after the attack. As per the final NIA chargesheet filed in a special court last year, the attack was part of a tactical counter offensive campaign (TCOC) by ultras against the democratic set-up of the state government. The chargesheet says that Darbha Regional Committee, Central Regional Command CPI (Maoist)-command II, Military Company-II and PLGA Platoon had effected the ambush. According to the chargesheet, the attack was aimed at creating terror in the minds of people and over 150 ultras took part in it. State Congress general secretary Shailesh Nitin Trivedi had earlier this week said the NIA chargesheet was replete with anomalies. “The NIA finding that opposition (Congress) leaders were killed to destabilise state government was unpalatable and contradictory,” he said. Congress has been alleging that the ‘Privartan Yatra’ was deliberately not provided with adequate security by state government. NIA had arrested nine persons in this regard. PTI