Banned outfit CPI (Maoist) on Tuesday claimed responsibility for the massacre of Congress leaders in Bastar region and demanded immediate suspension of all operations against it across the country.
“The aim behind this attack was to kill Mahendra Karma and other Congress leaders. During the two-hour-long gun battle between commanders of CPI (Maoist) and security forces, some innocent people and low-level Congress workers were killed. They were not our enemies but they lost their lives. We express regret over their death and offer our condolence to the bereaved families,” said Gudsa Usendi, spokesperson of “Dandkaranya Special Zonal Committee” of CPI (Maoist), in a statement.
“CPI (Maoist) appeals to all people to immediately call off Operation Green Hunt and take back all security forces deployed there. Army should not be deployed in Bastar region in the name of training. All leaders languishing in jails should be immediately released,” the statement said, adding that “strict legislations like Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and Chhattisgarh Special People Security Act should be repealed. All memorandum of understanding (MoUs) with corporates to exploit natural resources should also be cancelled.”
Usendi accused slained leaders Karma, architect of Salwa Judum (movement against Maoists) and Nand Kumar Patel, Pradesh Congress Chief, of corruption and implementing anti-people policies in Chhattisgarh. The outfit accused senior Congress leader V.C Shukla, who sustained serious injuries in the attack and at present undergoing treatment in a hospital in Gurgaon, of playing an “active role” in framing pro-industrialist measures in the State.”
“Karma, who has been called a tribal leader, is from a feudal family of Manjhi caste. His family has been traditional oppressors of the tribals,” Usendi said in the statement.
Twenty seven people including the PCC chief and his son were killed and 32 others were injured in Saturday’s Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district.