Fact finding report on fake Encounter at Pidiya - PUCL Chhattisgarh
(Investigation into the Fake Encounter at Pidiya and the death of two children due to the illegal use of RPG bombs in Bogda, Bijapur, South Chhattisgarh- A brief report by PUCL Chhattisgarh)
PUCL Chhattisgarh strongly condemns the fake encounter and extra-judicial killings of 11 people in village Pidiya as well as the use of drones and aerial firing that resulted in the death of two children in Bijapur District, Chattisgarh.
A five member PUCL Chhattisgarh fact-finding team, consisting of Soni Sori, Rinchin, Hidme Madkam, Sukalu Kothari and Virendra Bharadwaj, visited village Pidiya, Gangaloor PS, in Bijapur District and village Bodga, Tehsil Bhairamgarh, in District Bijapur between the 15th and 17th of May to look into these two incidents of police violence.
1.The Killing of 11 people in village Pidiya
On the 10th of May the police claim that an ‘encounter’ took place in Pidiya village, between alleged Naxals and a search operation team, comprising police and paramilitary, in which 11 persons were killed. The police also released a press note in which those killed were shown to be ‘Inami Naxalis’ and displayed some12 bore rifles which, according to them, were recovered from the “encounter site”.
When the fact-finding team visited the alleged encounter site and met with affected villagers and family members of those who were killed, they categorically stated that it was by no means an encounter, as claimed by the police, but was in fact a clear case of an extra-judicial killing by the security forces of villagers who, while they were engaged in their daily tasks, mainly tendu patta collection, since this is the peak season for this activity. Though they were unarmed, they were surrounded, hunted down and shot dead by the police.
The fact-finding team has gathered photographic evidence of bullet marks from the encounter site which clearly indicates that firing had only taken place from one side, there being no evidence of any kind of cross-firing. It is quite evident that it was not some prolonged encounter, as alleged by the police, but a wanton shooting of unarmed villagers. Several of those killed by the police were teenagers, including a young woman Suneeta Kunjam who had climbed up onto a tree and was shot dead there. According to the villagers, the police had also barged into several homes, ransacked them and beaten up many of the women.
The official police statement itself clearly reveals how this was in fact a completely concocted narrative of an encounter. Several of the people identified as dead in the alleged encounter are in fact wrongly identified, and some were misnamed. One of the people who was declared an ‘inami Naxali’ (wanted Naxal with a price for his capture) was reported to have been killed but is in fact currently lodged in jail. Such concocted statements are clearly indicative of the fact that the entire police narrative of ‘inami Naxals’ has been made in haste to cover up a fake encounter.
It is important to note in this context that the CPI (Maoist) has released a statement that affirms that 2 of the 11 people killed were associated with the party. However, they were unarmed, and had taken ill and were convalescing in the village. Given this, it was possible for the police to have arrested them. Instead, they were killed, making their deaths a clear case of an extra-judicial killing.
The villagers have buried the bodies and not cremated them ritualistically, stating that they will refuse to do so until they get justice, and that this is officially recognized as a killing of innocent and unarmed villagers.
The extra-judicial killing in Pidiya is one in a series of such recent incidents of such police violence.
It is also important to note that on the day that this incident was reported, the chief minister of Chhattisgarh congratulated the security forces for their success in eliminating Naxals, without conducting any judicial enquiry into the incident.
Many local organisations, political parties and leaders have also visited the spot over the past few days and have supported the villagers’ claims about the incident.
But the state government has not as yet commissioned any enquiry into the incident.
Conversely, the local district police as well as the office of the Superintendent of Police (SP) in Bijapur have refused to even accept the complaints made by the family members of the victims against the security forces.
In a bid to eradicate Naxalism from the region, the government, since January 2024, has given a free hand to the police and paramilitary to indiscriminately use force and violence against citizens, leading to a drastic increase in the number of fake encounters, extra-judicial killings and police violence on the Adivasis in South Chhattisgarh, including the extra judicial killings in Kanker on 16 April.
Demands:
- A high-level enquiry independent of the state and district administration be instituted into the Pidiya case.
- The complaints of the families of the victims of the firing by security forces should be taken up by the police for further investigation, and an FIR should be filed against the security forces.
- Compensation and justice to the families of the victims in the Pidiya incident and the immediate release of those who have been injured and are in hospital, since the family members fear that they will also be arrested under false charges.
- Extra-judicial Killings of 2 villagers by the Police
In Bodga village, Bijapur district, on two different occasions, two other villagers had been shot dead by the police in the name of eradication of Naxalism. Ramesh Oyam, who was unarmed, was killed by the police next to the river in January 2024. The police later claimed that it was an encounter.
In a second incident, a middle-aged woman, Raji Oyam, whom the team met, was shot and injured by police bullets in March 2024. Villagers had protested as well as filed complaints on both these occasions.
PUCL-Chhattisgarh strongly condemns the extra-judicial killings of innocent villagers carried out by the security forces in the name of eradication of Naxalism. Further, we condemn
the use of drones and aerial firing and RPGs by the State on its own people.
- The Death of Two Children in the Blast of Undetonated Mortars of Aerial Firing
On 12th May 2024, two children, Lachman and Boti Oyam, aged 9 and 12, from Bodga village, Bijapur district were killed in an explosion after they unknowingly picked up an unexploded mortar shell that they found buried in the soil. The children were working with the tendu patta
dealer by helping to dry the leaf bundles, and were on their way back to the fields where the leaves were drying, after having had their lunch.
This clearly shows how such aerial firing of mortars is being conducted by the security forces so close to human habitation.
However, in a clear attempt to cover up the incident, the police and administration released a press note claiming that the children were killed due to an IED planted by the Naxals. The families were given Rs. 25000 each as emergency compensation for funeral arrangements etc. Additionally, they were told that they could claim Rs. 5 lakh for each child under the “Naxal Peedit” scheme of compensation for victims of Naxal violence, if they were willing to “accept” that the children had died due to an IED laid by the Naxals.
It is important to note that this aerial undetonated bomb was a leftover from a firing that happened in the village in March 2024. The villagers had complained about it and the press had also covered the incident, highlighting the possibility that there could be more such undetonated bombs which could cause fatal accidents. But no action was taken by the administration, and neither did they own up to the fact that such weapons were being used.
For the past two-three years, there have been many such reported incidents and complaints about the use of drones and aerial firing of RPGs (Rocket Propelled Grenades) by the security forces in civilian villages. The use of drones or aerial weapons in civilian areas is illegal and a matter of grave concern.
In April 2022, PUCL Chhattisgarh had conducted a fact-finding into the use of RPGs and aerial firing by the police and also filed a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). The deployment of such warfare tactics by the government in civilian areas has now claimed the lives of two young children. The PUCL fact-finding team visited the site and found remains of mortal-shells and pieces of ammunition used in aerial firing, as can be seen in the images below. This finding is clearly in contradiction with the police version which claims that the children were killed in an IED blast.
Demands
- An independent investigation on the use of aerial weapons in civilian habitations, and an immediate stop the use of these weapons by a state against its own people in clear violation of the law.
- The administration must take responsibility for this incident and ensure that the area is cleared of any such residual shells and bombs to ensure that such a tragedy due to their negligence does not occur again.
- Compensation to the families of the dead children should be given as the state is responsible for their deaths, and it should not be covered up by attributing it to Naxalites.
- The disbanding of police and paramilitary regiments such as the District Reserve Guard Force (DRGF) which are a clear violation of the Supreme Court ruling in the Salwa Judum case which declares that the use of adivasi youth as
combatants against their own people in such a manner is in fact unconstitutional.