The security forces began a massive operation in Malkangiri and Koraput, bordering Chhattisgarh, even as the CPI(Maoist) staked claim for the Chhattisgarh massacre that left 27 dead on Tuesday.
The Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee of the outlawed outfit issued a four-page Press release in which it took credit for eliminating Congress leader and founder of Salwa Judum Mahendra Karma as well as Nand Kumar Patel, Chhattisgarh Congress chief, but expressed regret that “innocents” were killed in the operation.
Stating that the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army carried out the attack on the convoy carrying the Congress leaders, CPI(Maoist) spokesperson Gudsa Usendi said the unspeakable oppression and violence carried out by the ‘fascist forces’ has been repaid.
Karma was punished for his misdeeds whereas Patel was targeted because he was the one who approved Operation Green Hunt during his stint as the Home Minister, the statement said.
Issuing a warning to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh and his ministers, the CPI(Maoist) said they too are equally responsible for the plight of the tribals who are looted in the name of industrialisation and development. “Karma too felt safe under the Z-Plus security cover, but history is witness to the fact that fascist forces will be consigned to its dustbin,” the statement added.
Demanding rollback of Green Hunt and withdrawal of all security forces from Bastar, the Dandakaranya SZC said all agreements with the corporate houses should be cancelled.
The outfit’s Kalimela unit in Malkangiri also issued a warning to the Special Police Officers (SPOs) deployed in the district asking them to quit their jobs and return to the family fold or face a similar fate as that of their counterparts, two of whom __ Ghasiram and Gopi __ were killed recently in Kiang.
“If you don’t give up arms, the PSOs and their families will be produced in Praja Court and tried,” the Kalimela area committee cautioned.
Security forces launched flush-out and interception operations in Mathili,
