NEW DELHI: It was the first visit by a Prime Minister to Dantewada, a Naxal hotbed, in Chhattisgarh in three decades. But Narendra Modi’s historic visit on Saturday, when he made a strong pitch for development and asked the rebels to give up their weapons for ploughs, was overshadowed by a crisis as the Naxals took about 250 villagers hostage in Sukma district hours before his visit. Late in the night, they freed all the captives barring one who was beaten to death after being tried in a “people’s court”.
A State government official said residents of four villages — Marenga, Tipanpal, Banapara and Patelpara — were rounded up by the ultras on Friday night and were taken to dense forest areas.
The official said the villagers backed the construction of a culvert on Jhiram River though the Naxals opposed it and added that there was panic among the elderly people in the villages as the Naxals beat up a pradhan who was a supporter of the move to build the culvert.
“The Naxals were led by Deva, a commander of the South Bastar Divisional Committee, and Sunny, a woman commander of the Darbha Ghati division,” the official said, adding that four forest officials were also abducted, but later released.
Addressing a gathering at Dantewada, Modi said an investment of Rs 24,000 crore would flow into the region as a result of MoUs signed on Saturday, and it will bring about a big change in the lives of people. “Shoulders of youth should now bear ploughs, rather than guns,” he said.
Red Rage Flares Up in Bastar
Naxals went on rampage in several parts of Chhattisgarh’s insurgency-hit Bastar region, damaging rail tracks on the Kirandul-Visakhapatnam route and blocking roads, as part of their bandh call opposing Narendra Modi’s visit to the State.