A huge convoy of Congress leaders were on their way home from what was being considered a largely successful Parivartan rally. The convoy was wending its way through Jhiram Ghati (valley) in the Maoist-infested Bastar-Sukma region of Chhattisgarh though a highway. It was evening, around 4 pm.
The guns — their staccato blasts punctuated by explosions of grenades — did not fall silent till an hour later. . It was around 4.15 when a landmine ecploded, bowing up the highway and stopping the convoy. The first guns — fired by the 200-strong Maoist ambush team — went off shortly after. By the end of it, 29 people — including the entire top rung of the Congress’s state leadership — were dead, 35 others were injured.
On Wednesday, the court sentenced them to death. Among those killed were former Leader of the Opposition and founder of the controversial Salwa Judum anti-Naxal civilian movement Mahendra Karma, then-state party chief Nand Kumar Patel, his son Dinesh, former Union Minister Vidya Charan Shukla who later succumbed to gunshot wounds, and former MLA Uday Mudliyar. Several security personnel and civilians were also killed. The Maoist Ambush The aim of the attack was to create fear among the local population, and to deter people from participating in elections. The stretch of the highway was boxed on two sides with hills, and there was no escape. A massive Improvised Explosive Device was exploded which blew up the road and created a culvert. Felled trees were laid on both ends of the road to ensure no help could come. They had mapped the convoy’s speed, identifying the blind spot where the vehicles would slow down and where the terrain would ensure there was no cellphone connectivity. One of them died as undertrial. Those arrested included Pramila Modiyam, Chaitu Lekam (alias Munna), Sumita (alias Punem Modiyam), Mukka Mandvi, Kosa Kavasi (alias Kosaram), Aayata Markam, Madkami Deva, Joga Madkami, Banjami Sanna (alias Chamru) and Mahadev Nag. The sentence can be executed only after the high court’s order and the convicts will remain in the central jail until then.
The 200-plus heavily armed Maoists who had attacked the convoy, had laid their ambush well. The Arrests Altogether, 11 Maoists were arrested and put on trial by the National Investigation Agency or NIA for their direct role in the Jhiram Ghati massacre. The Trial The trial in the Jhiram valley massacre case stretched across nearly 13 years, with the prosecution examining 101 witnesses and large tranches of documents. Earlier this month, Special Judge Abhay Singh Rajput of the Special NIA Court in Jagdalpur convicted all 10, two of them women. They can appeal against the verdict in the high court within 30 days.
Investigators later said they had even rehearsed the attack, building a mockup of the Jhiram Valley terrain in a nearby forest. Defence lawyer Arvind Choudhary has said they will appeal against the verdict.
