Maoists have brutally killed a Company Commander of the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) of CRPF in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district. The deceased, identified as Commander Tijau Ram Bhuarya, was stationed at the 4th Battalion in the Darbha area.

As per the account provided by police officials, the team of security personnel was engaged in market surveillance when a group of Maoists, cloaked in civilian attire, launched a sudden and ferocious attack on the commander with axes, tragically resulting in his martyrdom. Following the assault, the Maoists swiftly retreated, prompting an immediate search operation across the region. The incident unfolded in the Kutru police station area.

The toll of lives claimed by Maoists in recent years in Chhattisgarh is deeply troubling, highlighting the relentless violence and the severe threat posed by Maoist insurgency in the region. Instances include Maoists conducting public trials resulting in the execution of two young men in the forests of Sukma on November 17, 2020, and the abduction and subsequent killing of a constable in Bijapur on October 21, 2020. Moreover, in 2020, in Narayanpur’s Abujhmaad, two youths were falsely accused of being police informants and brutally murdered, while in Kanker district, a former village head faced execution after a public trial by Maoists.

In November 2021, Maoists conducted another public trial in Sukma district, leading to the killing of two young men accused of being police informants, followed by the execution of a villager through a public trial in the Koilbeda area of Kanker district. The cycle continued with the murder of Kamalu Punem through a public trial by his associates in Bijapur district in January 2022, and the sentencing to death by public trial of two associates, Bhoti Poyam and Kotarapal, in the Jungla police station area of Bijapur district, on charges of being police informants.

The tragic timeline persists with incidents such as the murder of a youth in Dantewada district’s Tetam area on February 10, 2024, and the killing of a differently-abled youth by Maoists in Neelavaya, Bijapur district, on March 17, 2023. On May 2, 2023, a contractor was killed in the Katekalyan area of Dantewada district, followed by the murder of a villager in the Kondagaon district on August 27, 2023. Additionally, a youth was killed and dumped near the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border on November 10, 2022, while another villager was murdered near the same border on January 6, 2023. In February 2023, three BJP leaders were assassinated in Narayanpur, Dantewada, and Bijapur districts, followed by the beheading of a villager by Maoists in Bijapur district in February 2024. The alarming trend continued with the murder of a contractor working on the Jal Jeevan Mission in Orchha, Narayanpur district, in February 2024.

The escalating incidents of Maoist attacks in Chhattisgarh emphasise the critical necessity for implementing comprehensive measures to tackle Maoist violence effectively and guarantee the safety and security of the populace residing in the impacted regions.