Man killed in anti-Naxal op in MP turns out to be tribal; Cong seeks judicial probe
Mandla: A man killed in a recent anti-Naxal operation in Madhya Pradesh’s Mandla district was a tribal and not a Maoist, an official has said.
The opposition Congress claimed the man was innocent and demanded a high-level probe and a judicial inquiry into the incident.
The man, Hiran Singh Partha (38), belonged to the Baiga community, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group, said officials.
The encounter took place on March 9 and his identity was ascertained on March 13, a senior official said on Saturday.
Partha was accompanying Naxalites deep inside a jungle in Khatiya area of the district, Balaghat Zone Inspector General (IG) of Police Sanjay Kumar told PTI when asked more about his identification.
“How come he was with the Maoists? This is a matter of investigation. Often, Naxalites move with tribals. We can speak about his association (with Naxalites) only after investigation,” Kumar said.
“We don't have any records that he was a Maoist. For now, he is a resident of Lasara Tola village,” the senior police official said.
After the encounter, two men having links with Maoists were arrested, he said.
Meanwhile, Congress MLA Narayan Singh Patta, who represents Bichhiya constituency in the tribal-dominated Mandla district, said he visited Partha’s village on Saturday and met his children and other residents.
“I was there from 10.30 am till 1 pm but could not meet Partha’s wife. The police did not allow her to meet me. I was told she was in the police station,” the tribal legislator said.
The deceased was the father of five kids. He was an innocent man and had even worked under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, Patta claimed.
“Partha might not have known who Maoists were. I have learnt that he used to go deep into the jungle to collect forest product and catch parrots,” the Congress leader said, demanding a high-level probe and a judicial inquiry into the incident.
Earlier, the police in a release on March 9 said a man from a Naxal group was killed during an encounter and information about him was being gathered.
IG Kumar had then said that around 205 rounds, including 125 by Naxalites, were fired during the March 9 gun battle. A .315 bore firearm was found near the body, he added.
Police said intelligence reports on March 8 suggested the presence of Naxalites in the Kanha National Park area within the jurisdiction of Khatiya police station.
Acting on these inputs, the state police’s anti-Naxal Hawk Force launched the operation, Kumar earlier said.
Besides killing Partha, police arrested two 28-year-old casual labourers of the forest department, Ashok Kumar Valko and Santosh Kumar Dhurve, claiming they helped Naxalites with ration.
The police have invoked the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against Valko and Dhurve, both locals.
Balsingh Thakur, the Mandla unit chief of the Madhya Pradesh Van Karmachari Sangh, a forest workers' union, on Friday claimed the two casual labourers were falsely implicated.
“We are going to meet the Mandla superintendent of police soon and submit a petition to ensure the innocent tribal labourers are released from jail,” he said.
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Drug peddler's property worth Rs 1 crore attached in Srinagar
Srinagar (PTI): Property worth Rs 1 crore belonging to a notorious drug peddler was on Saturday attached in Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar, police said.
A double-storey house on eight marlas of land situated at Wantpora Eidgah, belonging to Basit Bilal Dar, a notorious drug peddler, valued at approximately Rs 1 crore, a police spokesperson said.
He said Dar is involved in two cases registered under various sections of the NDPS Act.
During investigation, it was established that the accused had acquired the said property through illicit proceeds generated from drug trafficking activities, the spokesperson said.
Consequently, the property was attached under the provisions of the NDPS Act. The attachment proceedings were conducted in the presence of the two independent witnesses, strictly in accordance with the prescribed legal procedures, he said.
As per the attachment order, the owner has been restrained from selling, leasing, transferring, altering, or creating any third-party interest in the property till further orders, the spokesperson added.
