India court sentences 10 Maoist rebels to death over 2013 attack
Maoist rebels were convicted of conspiracy and waging war over the 2013 Chhattisgarh attack that killed 27 people, including Congress party members.
NEW DELHI: An Indian court has handed down the death penalty to ten Maoist rebels for their participation in a 2013 ambush that killed 27 people, including crucial Congress party members, India's National Investigation Agency (NIA) announced on Wednesday. The convicts were found guilty of multiple crimes, such as conspiracy and waging war against the state, before receiving their ultimate punishment.
The prolonged Maoist insurgency, which began in the 1960s and claimed over 12,000 lives, was once considered the gravest internal security threat India had ever faced by a former prime minister. However, the rebellion has been largely subdued following a rigorous military campaign across the Maoist-infested regions, known as the Red Corridor.
The attack in May 2013 unfolded in a remote, forested area of Chhattisgarh, the central Indian state, resulting in the complete obliteration of the top leadership of the Congress party. The assailants employed a land mine, uncontrolled gunfire, and grenade attacks on the convoy, as revealed by the NIA in a statement. Their investigation confirmed that the ten Maoist cadres were part of a criminal conspiracy aimed at murdering prominent Congress leaders and security personnel.
In India, the death penalty is typically administered by hanging, although executions are scarce in reality. The last such executions took place in March 2020, when four men convicted of a 2012 Delhi bus gang rape and murder case were hanged, an event that triggered widespread protests across the nation.
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