‘A life without fear of security forces and Naxalites, can any party promise us that?’

Across the country, from big cities like Mumbai and Delhi to small towns like Darbhanga and Wayanad, the youth have two expectations from elected governments: employment and development. Considering India has one of the youngest populations in the voting age group, political parties often ride the wave of this sentiment, offering tall promises of jobs, spending on education, better healthcare facilities—all in a desperate bid to woo the youth.

But in Gattapalli of Etapalli tehsil, deep inside the Dandkarnya forests in Naxal-dominated Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra, these promises mean nothing. The debates about Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi are meaningless.

No one cares about jobs, religion, caste politics, or even loan waivers, despite being some of the poorest people in the country. The unanimous, singular demand is security from India’s own security forces. Yet this is a demand that’s never been taken seriously by the area’s political representatives, if locals are to believed.

In these parts, villagers live under the constant shadow of being branded “Naxalites” by police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel and being killed in cold blood. Their fears aren’t unfounded. Last April, eight youngsters from the village went missing when they set out to attend a wedding in Kasnur. Later, they were found to be killed in what was one of the largest encounters in recent times. C-60 commandos of the Maharashtra Police killed over 40 people, claiming they were Naxalites, in Kasnur and Jimalgatta. Maoist leader Sainath, head of Perimili Dalam and a central committee member of CPI (Maoist), was killed in the encounter—but also the youths from Gattapalli.

The five girls and three boys, some of whom were only in their teens, were identified as Bujji Usendi (17), Nusse Madavi (18), Raso Chukku Madavi (15), Anita Gawde (18), Raso Pocha Madavi (23), Mangesh Chundu Madavi (17), Mangesh Atram (25) and Irpa Madavi (23). Their bodies were found by their families at the morgue of Gadchiroli Civil Hospital. Only 17-year-old Bujji Usendi could be identified; the other bodies were disfigured beyond recognition. Yet even her body was in such an advanced state of decomposition that she couldn’t be brought back home for her last rites. The villagers finally buried her in Gadchiroli.

Last April, eight youngsters from the village went missing when they set out to attend a wedding in Kasnur.

Family members of the eight youngsters.

The police assured the villagers that DNA tests would be carried out to identify the remaining bodies. A year later, the villagers have heard nothing about it.

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The villagers are emphatic that none of the eight were Naxalites. Yet they’re unsurprised by the string of events. Many of them have charges under Section 110 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) for “supporting Naxals”, and the police often call on them for “enquiries”.

One of them is 34-year-old Dalsu Madavi, a Gattapalli local who was booked under Section 110 and has been called a “Naxal supporter” by the police. “After the encounter at Kasnur, on the morning of April 22, police came to our village and told us, ‘Your Sainath has been killed in the encounter, come and collect his body’. Till then we were not aware of the fate of the eight children of our village. On April 23, when they didn’t return home, we were worried. An old couple from our village who had also gone to the wedding informed us that a huge firing had taken place at Kasnur.”

So the villagers proceeded to the Permili Police to register a complaint to find about the missing youngsters. They were told to go to Kasnur instead, and make enquiries at the wedding venue—but they were told the eight youngsters hadn’t been seen there. Finally, on April 24, when the villagers returned to the police station, they were told “many people” had been killed in a recent encounter. That’s when the families were taken to Gadchiroli Civil Hospital.

Fifty-five-year-old Soni Gawde is the mother of 18-year-old Anita who was killed in the encounter. She says, “I went to the hospital but couldn’t identify the body of my girl. All the bodies were disfigured badly. There were no clothes on them and each body was wrapped in a big plastic bag. Many of the bodies didn’t have scalps, some didn’t have their hands, some their legs. It was difficult to identify them.” Only Bujji Usendi’s body was clothed to the extent that her father could identify her salwar.

Vijay Madavi, 28, the elder brother of 17-year-old Mangesh Chundu Madhavi who was killed, says, “My brother along with seven others first went to the Ghotul (a tribal hut in Maria-Gond culture where people gather for social gatherings, dance and music) and then they left for the wedding. My father went to the hospital but was shocked to see the sight. We couldn’t even bury my little brother.”

Later, the police asked his father if he “wanted a TV or a cycle”, Vijay says. “They told him if anyone asks him about my brother, he should tell them that Sainath took them to join Perimili Dalam. Sainath was a Naxalite and everyone knew it.”

The tragedy has threaded the families together. Pouri Chukku Madhavi’s daughter Raso was just 15. Her mother says she went to the wedding because she enjoyed dancing. “She didn’t have any connection with any Naxalite. She was probably too young to even understand all this. Yet she was killed. I didn’t even get a chance to bury her body respectfully. Nothing haunts me as much as this helplessness. And I know I will continue regretting it till I die.”

Similarly, Suresh Madavi, brother of 18-year-old Nusse Madavi, tells Newslaundry: “My sister was a very nice girl. How can they even term her as a Naxal? Eight families have been massacred and nobody cares. All of us villagers go to vote without fail, in every election. Yet in our moment of need, no leader came to wipe our tears.” In the same village, 65-year-old Buklu Atram is shattered. “Since the death of my son [Mangesh Atram], it has become difficult for me and my wife to live. There’s not a single day that we don’t discuss him. He was my support.”

When asked if he thinks he’ll get justice for his son, Buklu’s eyes well with tears. “So many months have passed. The chances to get justice have become very dim.”

They were just kids, says 33-year-old Madhukar Madavi, brother of 23-year-old Raso Pocha Madhavi. “They liked weddings. They’re obviously not connected to any Dalam. If anyone comes to ask me for votes this time, I’m going to ask them where they were when my sister was killed.”

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On April 27, 2018, the police took blood samples from the parents of the seven youths whose bodies were unidentified. Jhuru Madavi, the 32-year-old president of Gattapalli Gram Sabha, says the idea was the police would carry out DNA tests. A year later, no report has been received. “When I asked them about the DNA test report, they registered a case against me under Section 110 for supporting Naxalites.”

The parents weren’t spared either. When the villagers went to the police station on April 24 last year to say the youths were missing, they were accused of lying. “The police told us all eight joined Sainath’s Dalam,” Jhuru says. “They said we were lying that they went to a wedding in Kasnur.”

Subsequently, the villagers were summoned to the police station on April 25 and their names were registered. Those who didn’t go were summoned again the next day.

When the death of the eight youths in the encounter was discovered, 200-300 police personnel camped out in the village from April 25-30, Jhuru says. They distributed chappals, saris and umbrellas to the villagers, and even a big ganj (cooking vessel). The eight families were approached and asked if they wanted gifts. They were then asked by the police to provide statements saying their children were inducted by Sainath into his Dalam.

Then, on August 2018, the villagers claim one member of each family was called by the police to the Permili police station. They were told to “live peacefully” as Sainath had been killed, and that their children had been killed because they had lived like Sainath too. They were told they would be killed as well if they “were going to live like Sainath”.

During the same meeting, a police sub-inspector named Mahesh Matkar took the thumbprint of Karve Usendi, father of 17-year-old Bujji Usendi, on a document stating she had gone off with Naxalites. Jhuru tried to intervene. “I reasoned with him, I told him all eight of them went together. So if Bujji was with the Naxals, the remaining seven would be too. So why wasn’t he taken everyone’s signatures? My reasoning infuriated him, and he went ahead and took Bujji’s father’s thumbprint.”

Jhuru says he was also “verbally abused” when he asked the police about the status of the DNA test.  

In September, about seven or eight youths from the village, including Vijay, Dalsu and Jhuru, were summoned to the police station. They allege they were forced to sign a document stating they, along with the eight missing youngsters, used to deliver food to the Naxalites. Jhuru says, “The police said they won’t leave us till we sign the paper. We didn’t have any option but to do so.”

Subsequently, Jhuru says, he was called by the police four or five times, but he was afraid and didn’t go. On April 1, 2019, the police sent him a notice instructing him to produce himself in front of the station in-charge of Perimili police station for “enquiry”.

On April 1, Jhuru Madavi was instructed to produce himself in front of the station in-charge of Perimili police station.

Other notices issued by the police.

Like Jhuru, 28-year-old Birsu Atram from the village has also been booked under Section 110. But that’s not all. On the night of September 20, 2015, he says, he was shot at by CRPF personnel.

Telling his story to Newslaundry, Birsu says: “I was shot at by CRPF personnel while returning to my village. I received bullet injuries on my hand. When I asked them why they shot at me without even knowing my identity, one of the CRPF personnel came close to me and asked lag gaya kya (are you hurt), then he applied some medicine on my injured hand and made me walk for two km from the spot of firing. Then, on my motorcycle, the two CRPF personnel took me to Perimili police station and I was released the next day. I was told not to disclose the incident to anyone. They didn’t even take me to the hospital to treat my wounds.”

Birsu was released the next morning, after his wound was treated, and was instructed not to tell anyone what had transpired. The injury has left his thumb and three fingers permanently disfigured.

Birsu also told Newslaundry that the next day, after he was released, a police official of Perimili police station approached and offered him ₹10,000 “to keep his mouth shut”. Birsu says the police and CRPF asked him to make up a story: that he was injured in an accident while he was returning with his friend after having drinks. When Birsu didn’t agree, he was threatened that a case would be made out against him.

Birsu reported the matter to the then collector Ranjit Kumar but nothing happened. “Later, I wrote a complaint to the National Commission of Scheduled Tribes, who issued a notice to the then collector and the Superintendent of Police Sandip Patel. The National Human Rights Commission has also taken cognisance of the issue and requested a reply from district authorities.”

National Commission of Scheduled Tribes issued a notice to the then collector and the Superintendent of Police Sandip Patel.

But Birsu’s problems only escalated after his complaint. He says he’s often called for questioning by police officials, was booked under Section 110, and has been termed a Naxal supporter. “There’s always a fear in my mind that someday, they’ll tag me as a Naxalite or arrest me or, worse, kill me. I don’t know whose door I should knock on to get this tag removed. We don’t want anything from political leaders or bureaucrats. We just want our lives to be safe, and nothing else.”

Baburao Madavi, 27, says this is harassment. Also booked under Section 110 and deemed a Naxalite supporter, he says no one—political leaders, Members of Parliament or Members of Legislative Assembly—have come to their rescue. The villagers claim the police also summon them in the guise of conducting social programmes to question them about their “Naxal support”.

The villagers have collectively submitted a complaint to Shekhar Singh, then collector of Gadchiroli, to take action against police personnel who killed their children. They’ve requested compensation for the family members of the deceased. Two separate magisterial enquiries have also been ordered by Gadchiroli’s district authorities of Gadchiroli into the 40 killings which took place in the encounters.

When Newslaundry contacted Shekhar Singh check on the result of the enquiries, he said: “It has not been finalised because of the transfers of the Sub-Divisional Magistrate. It’s in the final stages, we’ll finalise it soon after the elections.”

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Sainath, the Naxalite leader killed in the Kasnur attack, was 16 years old when he started being summoned by the police for enquiries. Shortly after, a case was registered against him under Section 110 and, in the usual vein, he was termed a Naxal supporter.

According to his 66-year-old mother Tani Atram, he was once taken to the Perimili and Aheri police stations and kept there for three days. “He was brutally beaten up and was then asked to bring people to bail him out.”

Tani Atram, Sainath’s mother

Tani’s husband died long ago. “I was taking care of Sainath and my daughter who was 14 years old at that time. He was tired of the regular harassment by police. He also felt like I was being unnecessarily bothered. He couldn’t see me so anxious and sad. One day, he just left for the jungle and became a Naxalite. Unnecessary enquiries, regular beatings and the Naxal tag at such a young age made him Naxalite.”

Sainath was 33 when he was killed last April.

Lack of political will

The constituency of Gadchiroli-Chimur goes to the polls on April 11, and the battle will be pitched between the BJP and the Congress. Locals claim the BJP candidate (and sitting MP) Ashok Nete and Congress candidate Dr Namdev Usendi—both of tribal origin—shy away from addressing their specific problems. Instead, they woo the tribals by invoking Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi, respectively. According to the villagers, Nete seeks votes by using development issues, while Usendi’s focus is on how the BJP discarded development schemes introduced by the Congress. Tribal safety has never been an election issue.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Nete defeated Usendi with a margin of 2.36 lakh votes. In the current scenario, other marginal players include renowned Mana community leader Ramesh Gajbe, the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi candidate, and Deorao Nannaware and Harishchandra Mangam, fielded by the Ambedkar Party of India and the Bahujan Samaj Party.

Jagdish Meshram, a lawyer and resident of Armori tehsil in Gadchiroli, says: “ No political leader in this area, whether he is from BJP or Congress, has ever raised the issue of atrocities on tribals at the hands of the police or Naxalites. They have never done any press conference, protest or have ever raised the issue in the state Assembly or Parliament.” Meshram says no statement was issued during last year’s encounter which killed 40. “As a politician, it was their duty to at least find out what happened over there. Eight youngsters who didn’t have any Naxal profile went missing but they didn’t raise a single question. These politicians have surrendered themselves in front of the police.”

Meshram says the tribals are more afraid of the police than the Naxals. “The tribals have always demanded security, education facilities and health facilities from political leaders but the government is only interested in making roads in the jungle. They should address the demands of tribals.”

Mahesh Kopulwar, a local leader with the Communist Party of India, says, “No leader wants to talk about the security of tribals and Naxalism issue. Tribals have been booked for supporting Naxals just for protesting against mining. When they raise issues related to the Forest Rights Act, they’re intimidated and threatened with charges of supporting Naxals.” Kopulwar says neither Nete nor Usendi have done anything to further the safety of tribals in the district.

Lalsu Soma Nagoti, an independent district council member of Gadchiroli, says the atrocities and killing faced by tribals today “didn’t even happen in the time of British rule”. “Last year, eight were killed in Kasnur. Before that, three boys were killed at Koindvarshi, Reknar and Maraknar. People are unable to understand what kind of development this is. Development happens if someone is alive—not to dead people.” He also emphasises that politicians don’t come forward to support the families of those slain. “They don’t question the credibility of these ‘encounters’. They’re from tribal communities but unconcerned about the safety of tribals.”

Newslaundry contacted BJP leader and candidate Ashok Nete to ask him about the issue. He said: “We know this is an important issue among the tribal youth of the area. But since our government came to power, there is a reduction in such kinds of incidents. Security forces are here to deal with Naxalites and not to harm the local youth. I do agree that there are some elements in the police forces who are involved in framing and assaulting innocent tribals, but not every cop is a rogue. We keep telling the police repeatedly that they should not book anyone without having credible evidence.”

He added: “We are addressing this issue properly and gradually, things will change.”

Newslaundry also reached out to Dr Namdev Usendi, the Congress candidate. He said: “This is a very important issue for us because the BJP government in the state, as well as the Centre, is involved in suppressing the voices of protest. Whoever protests in this area against mining are threatened that they’ll be termed Naxalites. Very few are raising this issue in the elections because this act of framing people on false charges is totally undemocratic.”

Usendi said: “If we come to power, we are going to give the lease for mining to the villagers which will improve their condition. Mines will not belong to some Ambani or Adani, they’ll be of the locals, so they have social security as well.”

It should be remembered that despite their claims, Nete and Usendi have not raised this issue during their political careers.