Naxal link: C’garh nixes cases against 726 tribals

In a major development, the Bhupesh Baghel government on Friday withdrew cases against 726 tribals in Chhattisgarh facing charges of involvement in Naxal activities.

The decision was taken following recommendations by the one-man committee headed by retired supreme court Justice A K Patnaik constituted in 2019 to review all cases relating to Maoist violence in Chhattisgarh and recommend release of the under-trials "falsely implicated" in the charges.

“Based on the recommendation of the Patnaik committee, 594 cases registered against the tribals have been withdrawn from the court in which726 persons have been benefitted”, a press release issued by the Chhattisgarh government said.

The Patnaik committee has recommended the withdrawal of 627 cases relating to Naxal violence in Chhattisgarh.

Currently, only 33 cases are pending withdrawal from the court, the press release said.

Following the policy of security, trust and development, Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel had constituted the A K Patnaik committee to review all the Naxal cases registered against tribals in Naxal-affected areas in the state.

Besides, the district administration and the police have also been directed to investigate the Naxal cases registered against the tribals and provide relief to the innocent tribals.

The police department had identified 365 Naxal cases for speedy trial in the court, in which 218 accused have been acquitted in 124 cases by the court, the release said.