A Special NIA Court in Chhattisgarh’s Jagdalpur has convicted ten Maoists in the 2013 Jheeram Valley massacre in Sukma. At least 27 people, including top Congress leaders from the State, were killed in that Naxal attack.
The ten convicted — Pramila Modiyam, Chaitu Lekam alias Munna, Sumitra alias Sumitra Punem Modiyam, Mukka Mandvi, Kosa Kavasi alias Kosaram, Aayata Markam, Madkami Deva, Joga Madkami, Banjami Snna alias Chamru alias Denga and Mahadev Nag — are mostly lower-ranked commanders or armed guerillas.
Arvind Choudhary, defence lawyer for the convicted accused, confirmed the conviction and said that the quantum of the punishment would be pronounced by the court on September 16. He added that his clients would appeal against the conviction in the High Court.
Shiv Singh Thakur, who was injured in the attack, said that while he respected the court’s decision, the NIA had merely completed formalities by arresting and putting on trial the low-ranking Maoists. “They had asked our leaders’ names before gunning those victims down. There was a definite conspiracy which needs to be unearthed; only then will we get closure,” he told The Hindu.
The case pertains to one of the deadliest Maoist attacks in the country, reported on May 25, 2013, when a large group of Maoists attacked a convoy of Congress leaders, around 10km from the Darbha police station in Sukma district. The convoy was returning from Sukma after holding a Parivartan Yatra rally, a political campaign through which the party was targeting the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the Assembly polls scheduled later that year.
According to the prosecution, as the convoy came close to the Jheeram Valley, CPI Maoist cadres first triggered a landmine blast, creating a crater on the road. The blast brought the vehicles in the Parivartan Yatra convoy to a halt.
The landmine explosion was followed by indiscriminate firing, grenade attacks and targeted killings, resulting in the death of 24 people and grievous injuries to over 35 others, some of whom died later.
Those killed included the then State Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel and former Leader of the Opposition Mahendra Karma. Former Union Minister Vidya Charan Shukla was injured and later succumbed to his injuries. Mr. Karma was the main target. He was leading Salwa Judum, a State-backed movement against the Maoist insurgency that involved arming local youths. The movement was later declared illegal and unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
The NIA took over the probe into the case and charged 39 cadres of the banned outfit. Barse Sukka, alias Deva — a top-ranked commander who surrendered before the Telangana Police in January this year — was then the in-charge of the Darbha Divisional Committee and was appointed the overall commander to carry out the attack by the top leadership of the banned outfit, according to the investigators.
