Former leader of Opposition in the State Assembly and senior Congress leader Mahendra Karma on Sunday said that innocent civilian villagers should not get killed by troopers even if the Naxals survive an encounter.
In a statement issued here, Karma who tops Maoists hit-list for about two decades, while expressing grief over the killing of innocent villagers during an encounter between the police and the Maoist insurgents under Gangloor police station in Bijapur district on May 17-18 night, stated that the police are not willing to accept its faults which is a dangerous sign.
Karma who is credited for launch of a civil militia movement, Salwa Judum, against Maoists said that repeat of such incidents (civilians killing) are making it imperative for a change in the strategy, mindset and style of the security forces. He said that there must be an impartial inquiry into the civilian killings.
Repeated nature of such incidents is lowering the trust of the people on the security forces with Naxals taking advantage of such a situation, Karma said.
He suggested that the security forces which had arrived from outside Chhattisgarh, must carry out operations under the guidance of local police and villagers after collecting correct feedback about local people.