Baghel raises doubts on Kanker encounter

A day after 29 Naxals were killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh, the Congress has cast aspersions on the encounter claiming that during the BJP tenure several innocent villagers had been labelled Naxals and killed.

Former Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel who is also a Congress candidate in the Lok Sabha elections was the first to raise doubts claiming that there had been several fake encounters during the BJP regime in the state and even innocent villagers were arrested on grounds of being Naxals. Baghel said that the Police had been threatening villagers as well. He claimed that during his tenure several Naxals had been killed or they had surrendered.

The charges were repeated by Chhattisgarh State Congress Chief Deepak Baij who said that the government should make it clear that all 29 were Naxals only, or that some villagers were also in the fatalities.

Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, Baij asserted that if any innocent tribals had been killed in this, the government would have to face serious anger from the tribals.

"The government is claiming that 29 Naxals were neutralised; if all these 29 people were Naxals, then it's a big achievement of the security forces, but it's too early to comment on this. Bhupesh Baghel is a former chief minister of the state, and whatever he says, he says after full consideration. We can't deny that he has some input from his sources. Since the BJP government has come to power, we have seen several incidents where villagers were killed in the name of anti-Naxal operations. Bhupesh Baghel's allegations raise many questions, and the government must respond to all the questions about this operation," he said.