Abducted cop shot dead by Naxalites in Bhamragarh

Nagpur: Naik police constable Bandu Wachami, abducted by Naxalites on May 10, was found dead with gunshot injuries under his right ear at Arewada in Bhamragarh tehsil on Monday. Wachami, posted at Kothi armed outpost (AOP), had stepped out of the secured area for some unexplained reason. The Naxalites have claimed responsibility in the abduction and murder through pamphlets found near the body.The victim belonged to 2008 batch.
It is not clear as to how the Maoists managed to detain Wachami, a former C-60 commando, for five days despite the ongoing security operations in the region post abduction.
Wachami, whisked away by the Maoists’ area rakshak dal (ARD) or gram rakshak dal (GRD) from Kundurwahi village, had been detained by the dalams till his identity was established. A section of the cops feels that Wachami was handed over back to the ARD/ GRD who brought the victim to Arewada and shot him dead from close range. The cop had been working at Kothi AOP for the last three years.
This is the third incident this year wherein police jawans fell victim to the Naxalite bullets after having faltered on standard operation procedure (SOP). On earlier two occasions, Naxalites had managed to flee with the firearms of the slain cops. Wachami was killed unarmed.
Sources said the cop, who had earlier attended a de-addiction camp organized by the department, is learnt to have went as far as five kilometres away from the camp in search of the stimulus. He had indulged in such daring outings in the past too.
According to a source, Wachami had crossed Parlakota river to venture into a deep Red zone where Bhamragarh and Gatta local organizational squad (LOS) gather. Wachami had reached Poyarkuthi village where he attended a marriage party. It was on his way back that Wachami was abducted.
Superintendent of police, Gadchiroli, Sandip Patil, said that security forces were initially left baffled as there was no indication of presence of dalams in the region from where Wachami was abducted. “The fact that ARD/ GRD members were behind the kidnapping came to fore later. Search operations were continuing towards the north where presence of dalams was suspected,” he said. “The ARD/ GRD had taken Wachami to the dalams but they did not retain him for long and sent the cop back with the supporters who used a 12 bore rifle to eliminate the constable,” said the SP.
In the pamphlet found near Wachami’s body, the Naxalites have made an appeal to the cops to resign from the department.