Chhattisgarh: 8 out of 121 tribals acquitted in 2017 Burkapal Naxal attack still in jail; activist says case example of 'grave injustice' done to tribals

Raipur: Eight 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 as they are accused in other cases, police said on Monday.

The Burkapal case is an example of the "grave injustice" meted out to tribals in the state's Bastar region, a human rights activist claimed.

In the Naxal attack in 2017 near Burkapal village in Sukma district of Bastar region, 25 personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were killed.

Special Judge for National Investigation Agency cases Deepak Kumar Deshlhre had acquitted the 121 accused on Friday, observing that the prosecution failed to establish their involvement in the offence and links with Naxals.

Inspector General of Police (Bastar range) Sundarraj P said following the court's order, 113 accused -- 110 of them lodged in Jagdalpur central jail and three in Dantewada district jail were released on Saturday.

The remaining eight are accused in other cases and hence they have not been released, he said.

Further course of action in the case would be decided later after examining the judgement document and legal prospects, the official said.

Naxals had ambushed a CRPF team near Burkapal in Sukma on April 24, 2017, killing 25 personnel of the 74th battalion of the paramilitary force.

The CRPF team was sanitising the area between Burkapal and Jagargunda where a road was being constructed.

As many as 122 members of tribal communities, including a woman, were arrested later in connection with the attack.

Most of them were arrested in 2017 while some were held in 2018 and 2019. They were booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, Arms Act, Explosive Substances Act, Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

After 113 tribals walked out of jail, some of them said their families were ruined as they were the only earning members.

We spent five years in jail for the crime we did not commit. I got married a few days before the incident following which I was arrested. I haven't seen my wife since then," Hemla Aytu, who hails from Jagargunda village, said.

My uncle Dodi Manglu (42), who was also arrested in the same case, died in jail. They (jail authority) have not given any document related to him even after I asked for it, he claimed.

Manglu was besides the 121 accused in the case.

Another tribal acquitted in the case said his family sold their farmland and bulls in Burkapal village for the court hearing expenses.

The person said he is married and does not have children.

Human Rights activist Bela Bhatia, one of the defence lawyers, claimed the Burkapal case is an example of the "grave injustice" meted out to tribals in Bastar region.

She said these tribals have finally got justice, but asked why did they have to spend so many years in jail for an offence they did not commit?

"Who will compensate them? Their families have got ruined and the kin of most of the arrested tribals did not even visit the jails in Jagdalpur and Dantewada to meet them as they did not have money," she said.