New Delhi: The Chhattisgarh government has announced financial assistance of Rs 4 lakh each to the families of 32 Adivasis who were killed in an attack by Maoists at Errabore, 14 years ago.
The deadly attack took place in July 2006. Errabore is in the Dantewada district, located in the South Bastar region of the state.
According to a news report published in the Times of India, the decision was taken in the state cabinet meeting.
“The cabinet has decided to provide assistance of Rs four lakh each to the families affected in the Errabore massacre,” agriculture minister Ravindra Choubey told reporters after a meeting of the state cabinet presided over by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel.
In 2006, when the controversial ‘Salwa Judum’, an anti-Maoist vigilante group began gaining momentum in Chhattisgarh, especially in the south Bastar region, several Adivasi villages were forced to move into shelter camps.
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Incidents of attacks and counter-attacks from both the Maoists and the Salwa Judum camps became rampant. Caught in the crossfire were the Adivasis.
The Errabore massacre was one such bloody incident of the time. In it, Maoists had allegedly attacked the relief camp, killing 32 tribal people, including women and children, and injuring several others.
According to the intelligence agencies, the raid on the relief camp in Errabore was led by Andhra Pradesh Maoists belonging to the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC) of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist).
The state police had claimed that as many as 50 Maoists of various ranks from Andhra Pradesh were reportedly deployed in the 30 dalams and 70 local guerrilla squads organised by the CPI (Maoist) in Chhattisgarh.
Following the attack, several dozen villagers had also been abducted. They were eventually released. The Congress, which was in the opposition then had accused the then BJP government led by Rama Singh for the security lapses. Soon after the incident, the state government had granted financial assistance of a lakh each.