MP: Man killed during anti-Naxal encounter turns out to be tribal; Congress seeks judicial inquiry

Mandla (MP): A man killed during a recent anti-Naxal operation in Madhya Pradesh’s Mandla district was a tribal and not a Maoist, an official said on Saturday.

The opposition Congress claimed he 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 Thursday, a senior official said.

Partha was accompanying Naxalites deep inside a jungle in the 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,” he added.

“We don't have any records that he was a Maoist. For now, he is a resident of Lasara Tola village,” the top official said.

After the encounter, two men having links with Maoists were arrested, he said.

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 MLA 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 said.

“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.

The police in a release on March 9 had said that a man from a Naxal group was killed during an encounter and information about him was being gathered.

Then, IG Kumar had said that around 205 rounds, including 125 by Naxalites, were exchanged during the March 9 gun battle. A .315 bore firearm was found near the body, he had 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 had said.

Besides killing Partha, police arrested two 28-year-old casual labourers of the forest department, Ashok Kumar Valko and Santosh Kumar Dhurve, claiming that they helped Naxalites with ration.

The police have invoked the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against Valko and Dhurve, both locals.

However, Balsingh Thakur, the Mandla unit chief of the Madhya Pradesh Van Karmachari Sangh, a forest workers' union, claimed on Friday that the two casual labourers were falsely implicated.

“We are going to meet Mandla superintendent of police soon and submit a petition to ensure that the innocent tribal labourers are released from jail,” he had said.