Scared Bastar tribals will vote for ‘anyone’ to avoid police grilling

DARBHA (CHHATTISGARH): Residents of the villages close to Jhiram valley in Darbha block, in south Chhattisgarh’s strife-torn Bastar region, will go to the polling booths on April 10 to vote. But they will do so out of fear of being branded as Maoist sympathisers and treated accordingly by the security forces.

“Under the prevailing circumstances of fear, villagers will cast their vote to avoid giving any misplaced impression that they are complying with the Maoist call to boycott the elections,” said Sukhdev Nag, 28, a member of the Darbha panchayat near the Jhiram valley.

What bothers tribals here is interrogation during the frequent visits by troopers carrying out routine search and combing operations in the