-The Telegraph Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh will try to persuade the Centre not to allow any more private mining companies to operate in the mineral-rich Saranda forests, a former maoist stronghold that is now the focus of a massive rejuvenation plan. If the minister, who toured the West Singhbhum forests yesterday, has his way, at least 20 companies, including steel behemoths like ArcelorMittal, Tata Steel, Jindal Steel & Power Limited...
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Four killed in Chhattisgarh had Naxal records, others still being probed, say officials-Vijaita Singh & Amitabh Sinha
-The Indian Express At least four villagers who were killed and one of those injured in the anti-Naxal operations last week in Chhattisgarh had police records of being involved in Naxal activities, security agencies claimed on Monday as they sought to counter the outrage over reports that many of those killed may have been innocent. The agencies also said that some more among the victims were suspected of being maoists but that...
More »‘Top Naxals’ are two 15-yr-old toppers-Ashutosh Bhardwaj
-The Indian Express Marking their first step outside Chhattisgarh, three Class IX boys of Kottaguda village visited Visakhapatnam on an education tour in January. Among the few selected by their school, they were the first students from the south of river Palteru to make the journey. They were awed by the mighty sea and ships in the coastal Andhra town. Two of them instantly dreamt of becoming mariners. The two, Kaka...
More »Cops own up to child deaths in raid-Sheena K
-The Telegraph Chhattisgarh police today admitted that the 18 victims of yesterday’s anti-maoist operation included children and women but sparked fresh controversy by claiming they were all rebel cadres. The admission came after the bodies were laid out in front of a police station to facilitate identification — a routine procedure — and journalists took photographs. It was clear that several of the victims were children and at least one seemed a...
More »Day after encounter, villagers say no maoist among those killed-Ashutosh Bhardwaj
On Saturday, over 40 hours after the “biggest encounter” involving security forces and maoists in Chhattisgarh, bodies of 19 alleged “hardcore maoists and Jan Militia members” lay outside their huts in the three villages of Sarkeguda, Kottaguda and Rajpenta in Bijapur. Villagers alleged no government official had spoken to them or visited their homes, and no autopsies had been carried out on the bodies. Several bodies appeared to have been brutalised. This...
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