Dantewada: Agnivesh demands judicial probe

“Shifting Kalluri to Sarguja as Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of police is not enough. He must be placed under suspension pending a judicial inquiry into the entire developments in Dantewada during this month,” he said at a press conference after meeting Chief Minister Raman Singh.

Agnivesh’s demand for a judicial inquiry comes a day after he was attacked by a mob comprising Special Police Officers (SPOs),also known as Koya commandos,and activists of controversial anti-Naxalite movement Salwa Judum at Dornapal.

Besides Agnivesh,the security forces also assaulted local media personnel so as to prevent them from proceeding towards Chintalnar where the former had set ablaze houses in three villages following the death of their three colleagues in an encounter with Maoists on March 14. The forces have prevented anyone from reaching Morpalli,Tadmetla and Timmapuram villages for more than a week now.

Stating that Raman Singh should take moral responsibility for the developments in Dantewada,Agnivesh said the judicial inquiry should be entrusted to a sitting judge of the Supreme Court. “The Salwa Judum leadership is in wrong hands. It has gone out of control.”

Agnivesh said the state government should not have transferred district collector R Prasanna,who,according to him,was doing a good work in Dantewada. “However,there was lack of coordination between the SSP and the collector.”

He also appealed to the rebels to announce a ceasefire to facilitate talks,saying that violence cannot be a solution for the problems of the region.

Meanwhile,the Dantewada district administration is making efforts to reach out to Chintalnar to verify reports that bodies of six tribal villagers were found near water bodies at Morpalli village. Tension escalated in the area after the SPOs allegedly burnt down houses in three villages after the March 14 encounter in which three of their colleagues were killed.

Local journalists,who managed to reach the village through forest route,quoted villagers as saying they had found six bodies at different places around the village.