Raipur: Thirteen out of the 121 tribals recently acquitted by a court in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district in the 2017 Burkapal Naxal attack are still in jail since they are accused in other offences, officials said on Monday as activists slammed the entire case as "grave injustice" to adivasis.
Some of those who walked out of different jails post-acquittal spoke about years lost in prison for an offence they did not commit, and pain and suffering faced by their families in their absence since they were the main breadwinners.
At least 25 personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were killed in the Naxal attack near Burkapal village in Sukma district of the Bastar region more than five years ago.
Special Judge for National Investigation Agency cases Deepak Kumar Deshlhre had acquitted the 121 accused, all tribal villagers, on Friday, observing the prosecution has failed to establish their involvement in the offence and links with Naxals.
Superintendent of Jagdalpur Amit Shandilya told that Out of 118 people (tribals) lodged in a Jagdalpur jail in connection with the case, 105 were released on Saturday while 13, who were accused in other cases, are still in prison. Similarly, Superintendent of Dantewada jail Govardhan Singh Sori said three accused in the case were lodged in his jail and they all were released.
Earlier, Inspector General of Police (Bastar range) Sundarraj P said following the court's order, 113 accused -- 110 of them lodged in the Jagdalpur central jail and three in the Dantewada district jail - were released on Saturday.
The IG said further course of action in the case would be decided after examining the judgement documents and legal prospects.