Narayanpur, Chhattisgarh: The District Reserve Guard (DRG) force, formed to combat Maoist activities in Chhattisgarh, has once again been accused of carrying out a fake encounter.
On January 23, a young man identified as Manuram Nureti, was killed in an alleged Maoist encounter at Bharanda village in Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur district.
The deceased’s brother, Renuram Nureti, is a DRG in the region. Both Renuram and Manuram’s wife have termed the encounter fake and claimed that Manuram was falsely being labelled a Maoist. They claim that he was preparing to join the police force and had filled the police recruitment form to join the ‘Bastar Fighters’.
Manuram’s application to join the Bastar Fighters. Photo: Tameshwar Sinha
The Bastar Fighters is a specialised division set up by the state government to combat Maoist extremism in the Bastar region. It largely focuses on recruiting local youth. In the Bastar division, a total of 2,800 jawans are set to be recruited from across seven districts.
According to the police version of the incident, an encounter took place between policemen and Maoists on a bridge 6 km south of Bharanda in Narayanpur district at around 1.30 am on January 24. In this encounter, a Maoist was killed by the soldiers whose body was later recovered in a search operation, along with weapons and a variety of Maoist material.
District Superintendent of Police (SP) Girijashankar Jaiswal has confirmed the encounter.
The family of the DRG jawan Renuram Nureti is originally from Ghotia in Durg district. To escape the Maoist-dominated region, Renuram shifted to Bharanda with his family in 2014.
Manuram’s brother Renuram Nureti. Photo: Tameshwar Sinha
Renuram says that he joined the police as a secret soldier, “gopniya sainik,” the same year. In January 2021, he was promoted to the post of a DRG personnel. He is currently posted in Kadameta area and lives in Gudri Para with his wife and daughter.
Renuram’s wife and daughter both work in a brick factory at Bharanda. His younger brother, Manuram lived in Bharanda with his wife Manora and was engaged in farming.
Speaking to The Wire, Renuram says, “If my family had to support the Maoists, why would we join the police? My brother was also toiling night and day to join the police. My brother, who was killed by the police as a Maoist, was innocent.”
“The police declared my brother an ‘unknown Maoist’ by dressing him up in Maoist uniform and planting a gun on his body. Our family is, in fact, a victim of Maoist extremism,” adds Renuram.
The deceased’s wife, Manora Nureti, said, “Manu had gone to the forest to hunt birds in the evening on January 21 and had told me that he’d return by 10 pm. But when he did not return till late at night, the family searched the surroundings. In the morning, someone informed us that a police-Maoist encounter had happened in the forest. That’s when we came to know that my husband had been killed in the encounter and labelled a Maoist.”
Items police claims to have recovered from Manuram. Photo: Tameshwar Sinha
Meanwhile, speaking about the incident, Narayanpur Additional SP Neeraj Chandrakar said, “At around 1:30 pm, a DRG Force battalion went out on a search operation in Bharanda village. Near the main road culvert, 10 to 15 Naxalites opened fire on the search team. In response to the firing that lasted for about ten to fifteen minutes, the DRG team also retaliated.”
“After the firing stopped, a search in the area in the wee hours led to the recovery of a dead body along with a loaded gun and Naxalite material, including a three-kg cooker bomb, wires, and Naxalite literature. Some banners and posters have also been found,” he added.
Translated from Hindi by Naushin Rehman.