Maoists wreaked their vengeance on tribals in a village in Chhattisgarh’s undivided Dantewada district, bordering Andhra Pradesh, by allegedly molesting women, assaulting elders, and torching houses for not handing over to them a local Salwa Judum (disbanded anti- Naxal vigilante force) leader, officials said on Wednesday.
The brutality by the armed rebels, who numbered around 60-70, on the Dorla tribe population of Maraiguda in the newly created Sukma district (carved out of Dantewada district), continued for about five hours on Monday night, leaving nearly a dozen people, including five women, injured.
Local sarpanch and former judum leader Haka Mara, who was the Maoists’ target, lodged a complaint with Maraiguda police station early on Monday night narrating tortures by the Left-wing insurgents on the villagers, Konta sub-divisional officer of police (SDOP) A.Khalko told this newspaper on Wednesday.
According to the police, the extremist group stormed the village at around 9 PM and surrounded the sarpanch’s house. They later dragged his wife and parents out when they did not find Mara in his house. The ultras allegedly outraged his wife’s modesty and beat up his old parents in public view of the villagers.
Later, they launched door-to-door search in the village looking for the sarpanch. At least four women were allegedly molested and scores of villagers assaulted in the process.
Several houses were also torched by them.
The ultras also set on fire the generator, the only sources of electricity in the village, before they fled.
The sarpanch was out of the village during the period. The tribal village, part of which falls in Bhadrachalam in Andhra Pradesh, has a population of around 5,000 people.