Thirteen years after the deadly 2013 Jhiram Valley Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh, a special NIA court in Jagdalpur has convicted all 10 accused in the case. The court will pronounce the sentence on September 16. The attack, one of the most devastating strikes on political leaders in Chhattisgarh, took place on May 25, 2013, in Jhiram Valley in Bastar. Maoists ambushed a convoy of Congress leaders returning from the party’s ‘Parivartan Yatra’ ahead of the 2013 Assembly elections, killing 29 people, including several senior Congress leaders.
The case was initially registered by Bastar Police before being handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) days after the attack. The transfer followed allegations by the Congress that security lapses by the state government and police had contributed to the tragedy. Over the years, the Jhiram Valley case has been subject to multiple investigations and inquiries. Two judicial commissions were constituted to examine the attack, while the NIA and a Special Investigation Team (SIT) conducted separate investigations at different levels. The case also reached the Supreme Court. The verdict carries considerable political significance in Chhattisgarh, where the Congress and BJP have repeatedly traded allegations over the investigation and the circumstances surrounding the attack.
In 2020, the apex court dismissed a plea filed by the Chhattisgarh government challenging a judicial commission’s decision not to examine additional witnesses. With all 10 accused now convicted, the court is scheduled to pronounce their sentences on September 16, marking a major development in a case that has remained both legally and politically significant for more than a decade.
