Raipur
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Thursday asked BJP, the principal opposition in Chhattisgarh, about the reasons for removing the names of Maoist leader Ganpati and Ramannafrom NIA’s final report into jhiram valley naxal attack in 2013that left several frontline leaders of Congress dead.
Baghel also accused the opposition BJP of stalling the investigation into the incident while talking to reporters on Thursday at Civil Lines in Raipur.
Maoists attacked a convoy of Congress leaders during the party’s `Parivartan Rally’ in the Jhiram valley in Bastar district of Chhattisgarh on May 25, 2013, killing 29 people including then state Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel, former leader of opposition Mahendra Karma and former Union minister V C Shukla.
The Jhiram Ghati incident had shocked the entire nation…Then UPA government hads then ordered National Investigation Agency probe into it while then state government (headed by then Chief Minister Raman Singh) had constituted a one member judicial commission headed by Justice Prashant Mishra to investigate it, Baghel said.
NIA in its FIR had named Naxalite leaders Ganpati and Ramanna and their names were in the case till August 2014. However, in September 2014, when the initial report was presented by the NIA in court the names of two Maoist leaders were missing. In the final report also they did not name them as accused,” the CM said.
“Why did the Modi government save Ramanna and Ganpati? If any criminal is named in an FIR then it is never removed. The BJP should tell why their names were removed and why they (BJP) wants to save naxalite leaders” he said.
The judicial commission headed by Justice Prashant Mishra submitted its report to Raj Bhawan (Governor House), not to the Chief Secretary or the state government in 2021, he said.
Subsequently, the state government appointed a new chairman and a member in the same commission and expanded its term. But then Leader of Opposition in the state assembly DharamlalKaushik secured stay (from Supreme Court) on the probe with help of BJP Member of Parliament and advocate Mahesh Jethmalani,” the CM said.
He alleged that as soon as NDA came into power and Modi jibecame the Prime Minister, the incident was concluded as work of Maoist Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee and the probe was ended.
“BJP has been constantly stalling the investigation. Many times we have written to the union home ministry and NIA in this connection but the investigation has not progressed,” he added
