Naxals reportedly killed 20 locals in Narayanpur district: Chhattisgarh govt

Raipur: A senior official of Chhattisgarh government on Thursday claimed that Naxals reportedly killed as many as 20 villagers for being police informers in the past two months in the Narayanpur district of the state.

"Frustrated with the success of police, Naxals have now started creating trouble for local villagers," principal secretary of the state home department BVR Subrahmanyam said.

"In the interior Abujhmad area of Narayanpur we have confirmed that four villagers were killed by Naxals last week. We are verifying the murder of another villager in the area.

"As per the local intelligence, at least 20 villagers were killed in the past two months in Narayanpur," he said, adding that these reports could not be confirmed as in most cases bodies were cremated, and the villagers can't always travel from these remote areas to inform the police.

The slain villagers were not surrendered Naxals, but they were those who had quit the Naxalism on their own to lead a normal life, he added.

Subrahmanyam claimed the Naxals were on backfoot in the region. In the past six months, post-monsoon, security forces eliminated 56 Naxals in Bastar region, while police lost 11 personnels. As many as 420 Naxals surrendered and 522 were arrested in this period.

"Despite tough opposition from Naxals, a road network is being developed in the hinterlands of Bastar. The roads are reaching Jagargunda, Chintalnar, Kistaram and Chintagufa which are believed to be Maoists' headquarters in Bastar," he said.

As many as 73 mobile towers are operating in Bastar, which has improved the connectivity to remote regions. Banks or ATMs are being set up at 150 remote locations, he said.