Raipur: Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel presented the Judicial inquiry report of the Edessmeta encounter case of Bijapur in Bastar division of Chhattisgarh in the Assembly on Monday. This judicial inquiry report made it clear that there was no Maoist encounter, but CRPF personnel fired at the villagers in panic. In this encounter, eight tribals lost their lives, including three minors.
What the Edessmeta investigation report stated?
In the judicial inquiry report, it was stated that eight people have lost their lives due to the lapse of the security forces. A judicial inquiry into the encounter was conducted by a One-member Commission of Inquiry headed by Justice VK Agarwal.
Report of the Judicial Inquiry Commission
The report of retired Madhya Pradesh High Court judge Justice VK Agrawal said that after conducting the investigation found that the security personnel may have opened fire in panic. Terming this incident as a mistake more than three times in the report. Justice Agarwal said that the slain tribals were unarmed. The villagers were hit by 44 rounds of bullets. The said panic has been mentioned in point number 98 of this Judicial Inquiry report. It has also been told in the same point that only the deceased Dev Prakash had 18 out of 44 bullets. Thus it is clear that the shelling was done by the security forces side and not by the members of the gathering.
Read: Bijapur encounter: Those killed were not Naxals, say villagers
What panel report stated
The report said, "It appears that on reaching Edessmeta, the members of the security forces got suspicious after seeing the people gathered around the fire. After this the security personnel assumed the gathered members to be probably Maoists and started firing in panic. This resulted in the loss of life." According to the report, it may be noted that no satisfactory material has established the existence of any dead or injured person as a member of the Maoist Organisations.
The Inquiry Committee gave suggestions
In the judicial inquiry report, the Commission has also given some suggestions. According to this, modern equipment and means of communication should be provided to the security forces. Inter-communication system should also be made more effective and efficient. Suitable and adequate safety equipment like bulletproof jackets, 'night vision' equipment should be provided to all the security personnel. So that the members of the force feel more secure and do not act in haste or panic. They are advised to participate in festivals and activities of tribals so that the security forces can get acquainted with their way of life and customs. The intelligence system should be made even more robust and reliable. The general development, especially the connectivity of roads, should be improved on a war footing in the rural and interior areas of Bastar.
When did the encounter in Edesmeta take place?
Let us tell you that in the village Edesmeta area of Jagargunda Police Station of Bijapur, there the encounter took on the intervening night of May 17 and 18, 2013 in the Edesmetta area of Jagargunda Police Station limits of Bijapur. In this encounter, eight people, including three minors, were killed. Since then questions were being raised on this encounter.
Allegations were levelled against the police that the people whom the police are calling Maoists are actually innocent villagers. After this, orders were given for its Judicial Inquiry. In view of the serious allegations, the Judicial Inquiry into this alleged encounter was handed over to the Justice VK Agarwal Committee. The Judicial Inquiry report submitted by the Committee in the Assembly was presented in the House, in which the committee has accepted that it could have been avoided.
Read: Bijapur encounter: For the first time, security forces intrude this impermeable territory of Naxals
