Amte corners cops for thrashing tribals

Nagpur: Gadchiroli police were left embarrassed after Magsaysay award and Padma Shri winner Dr Prakash Amte came down heavily on the security forces for manhandling some tribals from Poyarkoti, Kundurwahi, Arewada and adjacent villages in Bhamragarh tehsil. The police excesses had apparently happened after the murder of police constable Bandu Wachami last week.Dr Amte, who took up the issue with the district police officers, sounded extremely upset about the torture. The latest episode of police atrocity refreshed memories of Reknar village, where residents had to face the wrath of security forces after a constable was gunned down near Hedri last month. After much controversy, the inquiry into the police atrocities at Reknar was left in cold storage. Before the allegations at Reknar could die down, police recreated another ugly example at Bhamragarh, which has been criticized by Dr Amte. The latest incident is also making the rounds of the social media across Maharashtra.
Some of the tribals came to Dr Amte for treatment after suffered the assault by police. “I was shocked to learn that they were injured by the cops, which prompted me to raise the issue,” he said. “There is no place for these tribal to go and seek justice if they are treated like this by the police and shunned,” said Dr Amte.
“The government should not humiliate the tribal population this way, especially the youngsters, if they ever plan to eliminate Naxal movement. It is also not proper to label anyone a Naxal or their supporter just for providing food to someone,” said Dr Amte. He, however, also criticised violence to claim the life of someone else. “No one has the right to kill,” he said.
Dr Amte, who recently opened his second school in the district, said the government should focus on actually implementing the spirit of ‘Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan’ in the district to tackle the backwardness with education. “There are schools being erected while teachers remain absent. The education system here needs a boost and not this kind of unnecessary controversies,” he said.
Wachami had been abducted five days before he was found shot dead at Arewada village on May 16. Following the murder, police force from Kothi Armed Outpost allegedly unleashed a reign of terror in the adjoining villages, especially targeting the younger generations. The police were holding residents of the tribal hamlets responsible for conspiring into the kidnapping and subsequent murder of Wachami.
Sources said the Area Rakshak Dal (ARD) and Gram Rakshak Dal (GRD) of Naxals were behind the murder. Police have arrested six Naxal supporters and charged them for the murder, besides harassing several other villagers. Though police have claimed that Wachami had gone to meet an informer, sources claimed that he was caught red-handed with a woman in the village by local residents.
Naxalites gun down C-60 commando’s relative
Nagpur: Vyankatesh Atram, 31, relative of a C-60 commando in Gadchiroli police force, was shot dead by Naxalites on Rajaram Khandla road in Aheri taluka after whisking him out of his residence. Atram’s body was found on Sunday near the post office of Rajaram village. Naxalites’ Aheri local organizational squad (LOS) claimed responsibility for eliminating Atram as he was working as special police officer (SPO) for the last few years.
Superintendent of police, Gadchiroli, Sandip Patil, said that Naxalites had killed Atram merely on suspicion of being an informer for the security forces. “Atram paid the price for being a relative of a cop,” he said.
It was learnt that the Maoists left behind two pamphlets at the site where Atram’s body was found. In one of the pamphlets, the Naxalites had listed reasons for eliminating Atram. In the other pamphlet, the Maoists issued a warning to one Shrinivas Madavi for having set up live wire fencing in the jungles to kill domestic and wild animals.