Sukma: Maoists threaten villagers, ask them to not attend police meeting

The Maoists in Chhattisgarh's Sukma have released a letter asking the villagers to boycott the meeting, which is to be held between the police community in the area and the villagers.

The meeting that is supposed to take place on September 14 in Chintagufa comes as a result of the "mutual trust" between the villagers and the police community.

The letter released by the Maoists asked the villagers to boycott the meeting initiated by the police community, which was earlier supposed to take place on September 7 as the collector, scheduled to be at the meeting, was on leave.

"Earlier on 24 August, Podium Panda, a Maoist who surrendered in earlier this year, and the Superintendent of Police (SP) asked the common people to not be a part of the revolution that we are fighting. Podium Panda, along with the police, is cheating on the people who want to be a part of the revolution," read the Maoist letter.

Podium Panda was one of the masterminds behind the Sukma attacks.

The letter has also barred the villagers from visiting the nearby market, threatening to kill them if they do so.

Sukma SP Abhishek Meena said that this has shown the desperation of the Maoists to hold their ground.

"They don't the trust villagers now and so are barring them from going to Chintagufa market," Abhishek Meena said.

SP Meena further said that this highlights the importance of Panda's surrender as villagers can easily connect with him and he is a major influence in many villages.

"They are holding meetings just to convince them to not attend such meetings or meet with the administration and in some cases, they are beating villagers, where they think they are not toeing their line," said SP Meena.

Earlier on 2 August, eleven Maoists surrendered in the Sukma district of Chhattisgarh. Two surrendered Maoists had a bounty of Rs. 8,00,000 on their heads.

The Maoists surrendered in front of SP Meena, along with huge quantity of their arms. Amongst the eleven, three were women. 

-ANI