Naxal-victim’s family refuses to testify

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The family of the man who was killed by Naxals last week has refused to testify against them. The police now has no option but to turn to the village patils and get them to give an unofficial testimony against the Naxals. However, they are aware that this is not going to help much in court.
Pusu Zuru Hedo, 30, a farmer from Parapamguda village in Gadchiroli, was dragged out of his house around 10.30 pm on May 15 by a group of Naxals. “They took him to an isolated location and slit his throat. They had suspected him to be a police informer,” said inspector P. Navnath from Gadchiroli.
“Hedo’s family members had seen the Naxals who had picked him up. But now even they have refused to come forward and help us in identifying them. They fear that the Naxals will kill somebody else from their family too if they do so or they may throw them out
of the village,” said the officer.
According to another officer, they are now showing pictures of Naxals that they have seized in the last few raids in the jungle. “Since the family is not cooperating, we are showing the pictures to the Patils and Pudharis of the village and we have assured them that their identities will be protected. Although such testimonies will not hold ground in the court, we can at least identify the assailants and arrest them and gather evidence against them,” he said.
Earlier, around 40 Naxals murdered a former sarpanch of Pusukpalli village in Gadchiroli on April 14 night in front of the villagers as he was working towards building new roads and water supply for the impoverished village.
The police said the Naxals did this in the open to discourage other villagers from taking up developmental work. Mallaya Gawde, 50, the former sarpanch was attacked with axes in front of other villagers.