Jagdalpur: A special NIA court in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar district on Wednesday handed down death penalty to all 10 convicts in the 2013 Jhiram Valley Maoist attack case, in which 27 people including senior Congress leaders, were killed.
Special judge of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Jagdalpur, Ajay Singh Rajput, had convicted the 10 accused, including two women, on September 5 and reserved the order on the quantum of punishment for Wednesday, NIA counsel Dinesh Panigrahi told reporters.
“The court has awarded the death penalty to all 10 convicts,” Panigrahi said.
These 10 convicts were identified as Pramila Modiyam (40), Chaitu Lekam, Sumitra Punem Modiyam, Mukka Mandavi, Kosa Kavasi, Aayata Markam, Madkami Deva, Joga Madkami, Banjami Sanna and Mahadev Nag.
A total of 101 prosecution witnesses were examined during the trial and several documentary pieces of evidence were presented, Panigrahi said.
Asked about the total number of accused in the case, he said several identified and unidentified persons were named as accused in the FIR.
“Eleven persons were arrested and a trial was initiated against them. One of them died during the trial and the remaining 10 were convicted after the trial,” he said.
Defence lawyer Arvind Choudhary said, “We are not satisfied with the verdict and will challenge it in the high court.”
According to the probe agency, the 10 convicts were found guilty under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, Arms Act, Explosive Substances Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Maoists ambushed the Congress’ ‘Parivartan Rally’ ahead of the state assembly elections on the national highway in Jhiram Valley in Bastar on May 25, 2013, the NIA said in a statement.
As many as 29 people, including Congress leaders, civilians and security personnel, were killed and more than 30 others injured.
The Maoists triggered an IED blast, opened indiscriminate fire and detonated grenades at the convoy, killing 24 people on the spot and injuring more than 35 civilians and police personnel, the NIA said. Three of the injured later succumbed to their injuries, taking the death toll to 27, it said.
The Maoists also looted arms and ammunition, walkie-talkie sets, mobile phones and other belongings from the victims, according to the agency.
Those killed included then state Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel and his son Dinesh, former Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Mahendra Karma, former Union minister Vidya Charan Shukla and senior Congress leader and former MLA Uday Mudliyar.
The NIA said its investigation established that armed cadres of the banned CPI (Maoist), in connivance with local committees and divisions, had entered into a criminal conspiracy to attack and kill senior Congress leaders and security personnel travelling in the ‘Parivartan Yatra’ convoy as part of the outfit’s Tactical Counter Offensive Campaign (TCOC).
The state police had initially registered a case, but the then Raman Singh-led BJP government handed over the probe to the NIA within two days of the attack.
The NIA filed its first chargesheet against nine accused on September 25, 2014, and a supplementary chargesheet against 30 accused on September 28, 2015. Of the 11 accused arrested and put on trial, one died in judicial custody, the agency said.
The attack has remained a major political issue in Chhattisgarh, with the Congress repeatedly alleging that the larger conspiracy behind the incident was not properly investigated.
In January 2019, the then Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the attack, alleging that the NIA investigation had not covered the larger conspiracy.
Police subsequently registered a fresh FIR at Darbha police station on May 25, 2020, under sections 302 (murder) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC against unidentified persons on a complaint by Jitendra Mudliyar, son of Congress leader Uday Mudliyar who was killed in the attack.
The complainant alleged that the conspirators were still at large and that the conspiracy angle had not been covered in the NIA probe.
The NIA approached the special court on June 16, 2020, seeking transfer of the fresh probe to the agency. After the plea was rejected, the agency approached the Supreme Court, which declined to interfere.
Former CM Baghel had also alleged that Maoist leaders Ganapathi and Ramanna were initially named in the NIA FIR in connection with the conspiracy, but their names did not figure in the chargesheet. The Congress had alleged that the NIA probe lost momentum after the NDA government came to power at the Centre in 2014.
Meanwhile, the secretary and registrar (judicial) of the Chhattisgarh High Court handed over the report of the Jhiram Ghati Inquiry Commission to then Governor Anusuiya Uikey on November 6, 2021.
Baghel, who was CM at the time, questioned the manner in which the report was submitted to the Governor and said the state government had not received information from Raj Bhavan.
The Congress government later reconstituted the judicial commission by appointing a new chairman and a member and extended its tenure by six months.
The Chhattisgarh High Court subsequently stayed proceedings of the reconstituted commission after additional terms of reference were added to the probe into the 2013 attack. The stay was issued while hearing a PIL filed by senior BJP MLA and then Leader of Opposition Dharam Lal Kaushik.
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.