Mumbai: On April 22, 2018, the Maharashtra state police killed 40 persons, including several teenage boys and girls, in Kasansur village of Gadchiroli district in Maharashtra, on the basis that they were “armed rebels” of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist). Nine months later, on January 21, the Naxals “retaliated” and killed three persons in Kasansur for allegedly working as “police informers”. Calling it “retaliatory action”, the Naxals have reportedly taken responsibility of killing the three – Maalu Dogge Madavi, Kannu Rainu Madavi and Lalsu Kudyetti – on the intervening night of January 21 and 22. The three, all in their mid-30s, along with six other villagers were allegedly summoned into the forest, a few kilometres outside the village on January 21. While the three persons were shot dead, the rest were allowed to return on the condition that they get everyone to vacate the village immediately. The Naxals left behind handwritten papers next to each body and a red banner with a message stating: “On April 22, 2018, in Kasansur-Tumingunda incident, 40 of our beloved comrades were killed by the police. These three men worked as police informers and we have given them a death sentence as a punishment for their crime.” The banner has been undersigned by the ‘South Gadchiroli Division Committee’.Also read: One of 40 ‘Naxals’ Killed in ‘Encounter’ Was Child, Say Villagers, 7 More MissingThe locals have confirmed that on January 21, the Naxals had summoned the three deceased persons, along with six others to a deserted spot. “They had come in large numbers. They let go of the six others but asked Maalu, Kannu and Lalsu to stay back. They asked the six others to return to the village and vacate the houses. A few hours later, the bodies of the three persons were found lying few kilometres away from the village on the Bhamragad-Allapalli road,” said one of the villagers. This act has left the villagers horrified and they claim it was a “warning message” sent out to prevent them from working for the police in the future. As a practice, the Naxal leaders usually call for a “Jan Sunvai (public court)” every time they sense the villagers are not abiding by their orders. In this case, a villager said, no such Jan Sunvai was organised. “It appears the Maoists were quite sure of the role played by the deceased persons. These men along with the six others were summoned, and without any conversation, were punished (killed),” a villager told The Wire.Villagers of Gattepalli recognise a 16-year who was killed in Gadchiroli last April. Credit: File photo/Sukanya Shantha/The WireKasansur is a remote village situated in a dense forest in the border district of Gadchiroli. Only 32 families – all belonging to the Madiya tribe – live here. The river Indrawati passes through the village and on crossing the river, one enters into Bijapur district of neighbouring Chattisgarh. Both districts are Naxal-affected and have witnessed several bloodied exchanges between the armed rebels and the police. The villagers confirmed that since the attack on January 21, they have taken shelter in the Tadgaon armed outpost of Bhamragad police station. “Over 160 villagers have moved to the police station. Even those six persons who were abducted and later released are at the police station,” confirmed advocate Lalsu Soma Nagoti, a Zilla Parishad member.Credit: Ita MehrotraThe bodies have been sent for post-mortem and will be handed over to the families only after all the formalities are concluded. A senior police official said the security of other family members is their prime concern. “We are ensuring that others are safe. They are all panicked. Once things have settled, we will be questioning the six others and find out more details about the attack,” a senior police official handling the anti-Naxal operations, said. On April 22, last year, the district police’s C-60 commandos (the Maharashtra police’s special anti-Naxal unit) claimed to have carried out two “successful ambush [operations],” which were planned and executed at Kasansur, where 34 people were killed, and a day later at the nearby Rajaram-Khandla forest, where six more were killed. Three crucial commandos of the Naxal groups – Sainath alias Dolesh Madhi Atram (32), the alleged commander of Permelli Dalam (who, according to the police, was recently elevated as the divisional committee member) from Gattepalli, division committee (popularly known as ‘DVC’), rank-level member Naxal Srinu alias Srinath, and Nandu – were among those killed in the ambush. Besides them, six were assistant commandants, four party committee members and rest were party members.When The Wire visited Gatepalli village five days after the incident, it was found that most people among the deceased were, in fact, school- going children. Some children were as young as 13. They, according to the villagers, had travelled from Gattepalli – a tiny hamlet in Gadchiroli – to Kasansur village for a wedding.Also read: Were There Civilians Among ‘Naxals’ Killed in the Gadchiroli ‘Encounter’?At Kasansur, talking to The Wire soon after the incident, the villagers said the marriage had saved the villagers from police firing. “When they [Naxals] summon us, we have to oblige. There is no choice. That morning too, we were called. But as we were getting ready for a wedding ceremony in the village; we were exempted. The wedding saved our lives,” one of the villagers, Lachchu Matte Wadavi, told this reporter on April 27, last year.The Gattepalli villagers had complained of police excess and alleged that the children were wrongly targeted. The police claimed that the wedding was just a cover and the young boys and girls were, in fact, fresh recruits. However, the police were unable to establish how school-going children could have participated in an armed movement.
