Raipur: Congress leader and former Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister T.S. Singh Deo on Wednesday claimed that on the day of the 2013 Jhiram Ghati Maoist attack, “not a single security officer was posted” on the party leaders’ route to the event venue in the state’s Sukma.
His statement came after an NIA special court in Chhattisgarh’s Jagdalpur sentenced 10 convicts to death in the Jhiram Ghati massacre, in which 29 people were killed in a Maoist attack on a Congress party convoy on May 25, 2013.
Talking to reporters in the state’s Ambikapur, Singh Deo said: “There is no greater punishment than the death penalty… which other Naxalites (Maoists) were involved, which ones were not, is a completely separate issue. That is a matter of investigation.”
The Congress leader, who was in charge of the party’s programme at that time, recalled the incidents that transpired before the tragedy.
“I had made written arrangements — communicating with offices ranging from that of the DGP to the IGs and others — regarding the five- or six-day event. I don’t recall the exact details right now, but we had provided them with information about the programme, and in accordance with that, full security arrangements were provided for the first two days,” he said.
Singh Deo said: “On the first day of the event in Bijapur and even on the second day in Jagdalpur, there wasn’t a single lapse — not even the slightest shortcoming that one could imagine.”
“But on the third day, we were pushed straight into the lion’s den. When I set out half an hour early — it was Nand Kumar Patel ji’s program, and as the President, I had to reach the venue…that is, Sukma. I noticed that there wasn’t a single person on the road; no police personnel were deployed…There was no one stopping us, nor were there any other people visible on the road,” he claimed.
“It was a completely smooth and peaceful journey to Sukma. Before reaching Sukma, near the police camp, we saw a few people moving around. At Vakavanghati, there wasn’t a single officer deployed.”
Deo further said: “After the conclusion of the programme in Sukma, in accordance with the prior arrangements, I sought permission from Nand Kumar ji to leave for the next scheduled programme in order to look after the arrangements.”
“Still, there was not a single security personnel deployed. How did this happen? The same system that provided us security for the first two days of the scheduled programme, giving us a sense of security, suddenly failed to do so on the third day, and then this tragedy took place,” the Congress leader noted.
(IANS)
