The opposition Congress continued its attack on the ruling BJP in the State Assembly on Tuesday, over what the Congress alleges to be a fake encounter of a tribal man by the police in Mandla district of Madhya Pradesh.
The Congress raised the issue through a Calling Attention Motion on Tuesday, in the ongoing budget session of the Assembly.
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Congress tribal MLAs led by Assembly Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar and including Vikrant Bhuria, Narayan Singh Patta, and Omkar Singh Markaam cornered the state government over the incident while the opposition MLAs raised slogans inside the House.
The Congress maintained its allegation that the deceased, Hiran Singh Parthe (38), was an innocent tribal but the police shot him dead in a fake encounter and labeled him a naxalite.
The opposition demanded that the state government pay Rs one crore compensation to the deceased man’s family and also provide a government job to one member of his family.
On behalf of the state government, Minister of State for Home Narendra Shivaji Patel told the House that Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav on Monday evening announced an ex-gratia compensation of Rs 10 lakh to Hiran Parthe’s widowed wife, Bisro Bai. Patel also told the House that a magisterial inquiry has also been ordered into the incident.
Nonetheless, the opposition Congress stuck to its stand and pressed for a compensation of Rs one crore and government job to the kin of the deceased.
Subsequently, the Congress MLAs trooped to the well of the House raising slogans and then walked out of the House.
The Congress had staged a walk out on Monday too, over the same issue.
The tribal man, Hiran Singh Parthe, was killed during a police encounter with a group of naxalites in the tribal-dominated Mandla district a few days ago.
Parthe, a father of five kids, belonged to the Baiga tribe, which is a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) in India.
After the encounter and subsequent identification of Parthe’s body, questions were raised about the veracity of the encounter.
The Congress claimed that Parthe was innocent and the police branded him a naxalite and killed him in a fake encounter.
Following the controversy, Balaghat Zone Inspector General of Police (IG) Sanjay Kumar had admitted a few days ago that the police currently did not have any record that Parthe was a Maoist (naxalite).
The IG, however, stated that it was still being investigated how Parthe was moving along with the naxalites in the area.
