10 get death in Jhiram Ghati attack but little solace for victim’s kin: ‘What about surrendered Maoists?’

On September 5, a special National Investigation Agency court in Chhattisgarh's Jagdalpur announced a verdict in the 13-year-old Jhiram Valley Maoist attack case. The incident, which killed 27 people, including senior Congress leaders, and injured over 30 others, came to a close after a long legal battle. The victims' families and top Congress leaders in the State expressed dissatisfaction with the verdict, citing three main concerns: the profile of those convicted, a possible political conspiracy not probed by the NIA, and the accountability of the then Bharatiya Janata Party government in Chhattisgarh.

The NIA found 10 accused guilty in the attack, carried out by the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), who triggered a landmine blast and engaged in indiscriminate firing, grenade lobbing, and killing. The main target of the attack, Maoists claimed, was Mahendra Karma, a former Opposition leader, for his role in the state-backed Salwa Judum movement against Maoist insurgency.

Despite the backlash from human rights activists, Karma had political support from across the spectrum. The convicted Maoists include mostly lower-ranked commanders or armed guerrillas. The Congress party maintains that a massive political conspiracy lies behind the incident, which the NIA never investigated, while BJP leaders argue that if Congress leaders had evidence, they should have handed it to the NIA.