Chhattisgarh Court convicts all 10 accused in 2013 Jhiram Valley Maoist attack

 A special court at Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh on Saturday convicted all ten accused in the 2013 Jhiram Valley Maoist attack case in which 29 people including senior Congress leaders Vidya Charan Shukla and Mahendra Karma were killed.

The attack in Chhattisgarh's Bastar district on May 25, 2013, had wiped out almost the entire top leadership of the Congress in the state. Congress leader and former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel termed the verdict "incomplete justice", alleging that the "larger conspiracy" behind the massacre had not been investigated properly.

The Special Judge for National Investigation Agency (NIA) cases, Ajay Singh Rajput, reserved his order on the quantum of punishment for September 16, defence lawyer Arvind Choudhary said.

While originally 11 accused were on trial, one of them subsequently died. The convicted accused included two women, advocate Choudhary said, adding that the court had recorded the statements of 101 witnesses during the trial.

Pramila Modiyam (40), Chaitu Lekam, Sumitra Punem Modiyam, Mukka Mandavi, Kosa Kavasi, Aayata Markam, Madkami Deva, Joga Madkami, Banjami Sanna and Mahadev Nag were convicted by the special court.

"We will appeal against the verdict in the High Court. We have not received a copy of the judgment yet. We will be able to state the grounds for appeal after receiving the order copy," advocate Choudhary told PTI.

Accused Kosa Kavasi's brother Guddu Kavasi claimed that Kosa and and Mukka Mandavi had been falsely implicated. Both of them were busy with preparations for weddings in the village when the attack took place, he claimed.

"They were not there at the time of the attack. Those who were involved have surrendered and are living freely, while those who were not involved are paying the price. The families are distressed and shattered," Guddu said.

Maoists ambushed the Congress' 'Parivartan Rally' ahead of the state assembly elections on the national highway in Jhiram Valley on May 25, 2013.

As many as 29 people, including Congress leaders, civilians and security personnel, were killed and more than 30 others injured. Those killed included then state Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel and his son Dinesh, former Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Mahendra Karma, former Union minister Vidya Charan Shukla, and senior Congress leader and former MLA Uday Mudliyar.

The then Raman Singh-led BJP government handed over the probe to the NIA within two days of the attack. The state government also constituted a judicial commission headed by then Chhattisgarh High Court judge Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra to inquire into the incident.

The NIA filed a charge sheet against nine arrested accused before the special court in Jagdalpur on September 25, 2014. It filed a supplementary charge sheet against 30 accused on September 28, 2015, with two of them subsequently arrested.

Some of the accused named by the NIA as absconders later surrendered before the police, officials said.

In January 2019, the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government constituted a Special Investigation Team to probe the attack, alleging that the NIA had not investigated the larger conspiracy behind it.

Police subsequently registered a fresh FIR at Darbha police station on May 25, 2020, under Sections 302 (murder) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC against unidentified persons on the complaint of Jitendra Mudliyar, son of slain Congress leader Uday Mudliyar.

The NIA moved the special court on June 16, 2020, seeking transfer of the fresh probe to the agency. The plea was rejected, following which the agency approached the Supreme Court, which declined to interfere.

The issue became a major political flashpoint in Chhattisgarh, with Baghel repeatedly alleging that the larger conspiracy had not been probed.

The former chief minister also alleged that Maoist leaders Ganapathi and Ramanna were initially named in the NIA's FIR in connection with the conspiracy, but their names did not figure in the charge sheet.

The Congress also alleged that the NIA investigation lost its momentum after the NDA government came to power at the Centre in 2014.

The report of the Jhiram Ghati Inquiry Commission also became a subject of controversy. The secretary and registrar of the Chhattisgarh High Court handed over the report to then Governor Anusuiya Uikey on November 6, 2021. Baghel, who was then chief minister, questioned the manner in which the report was submitted to the Governor and said the state government had not received any information from Raj Bhavan.

The Congress government later reconstituted the judicial commission by appointing a new chairman and a member, and extended its tenure by six months.

The High Court, however, stayed the proceedings of the reconstituted commission after additional terms of reference were added. The stay was granted while hearing a PIL filed by senior BJP MLA and then Leader of Opposition Dharam Lal Kaushik.

Reacting to the verdict, Baghel, in a long post on X, said the judgment appeared to be "incomplete justice" as the alleged larger political conspiracy behind the attack had not been investigated.

"In such a case, sentencing only 10 lower-level Naxals cannot be called justice," he said.

"The NIA...had itself stated that 200 people carried out the Jhiram attack. The NIA had named 39 individuals as accused. However, due to persistent negligence during the investigation, the agency failed to apprehend more than ten people. The NIA had already dropped the names of top Naxalite leaders from the FIR, one wonders at whose behest," he said.

State Congress president Deepak Baij said the conviction of ten accused was no justice. "Only small-level Naxals were arrested and tribal and lower-level cadres were made accused," he said.

Some senior Maoist leaders had admitted in media interviews to being involved in the Jhiram attack, he said and questioned whether they had been granted immunity from punishment.

BJP chief spokesperson and MP Santosh Pandey said the verdict was a matter of satisfaction after a long wait and would help bring the truth before the public. Baghel was in power for five years (from 2018 to 2023) and could have produced the evidence he claimed to possess regarding the Jhiram attack, he added.

Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma also slammed the Congress and asked why the party did not take action while it was in power.