Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received disturbing information from Khariar, Orissa state concerning police firing upon two members of the tribal community. The incident happened on 8 January at about 4 pm. It is reported that the officers from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), fired at the two men, when they were fishing. The police shot one person on his leg, whereas the other on his chest. It is reported that the local police is trying to portray the incident as one of firing by Naxals against the members of the tribal community and is threatening anyone who would report the true incident.
CASE NARRATIVE:
Mr. Hari Majhi and Mr. Hube Majhi are two tribal men residing at Khaliapada village near Tarbod police outpost within the jurisdiction of Komna Police Station of Nuapada district in Orissa. On 8 January, the two men reportedly went to the forest to lay traps to hunt rabbits and to catch fish from a nearby water body adjacent to their house. After sometime, the family of the two men reported that they heard firing from the direction in which the two men had went. The brother of one of the men rushed to the place to inquire what has happened. The CRPF who were there informed this man that they were engaged in an encounter with the Naxals in the forest and that the Naxals shot the two men.
Contrary to this version of the incident, the villagers claim that the CRPF were inside the forest undertaking a combing operation against the Naxals and fired at the two men, when the CRPF found the men inside the forest. Hari Majhi was shot on his left leg, whereas Hube Majhi, was shot on his chest and he fell. Hari Majhi tried to run towards the village, despite of being shot at. But the police forced him down near the village and took him into custody, accusing both men as Naxalite operatives.
It is reported that the police then took both men to the government hospital at Nuapada for treatment. Later the police, contrary to their actions alleged that the two men were shot by the Naxals and not by the police.
Hube had to undergo a surgery to treat his injury and is believed to be critically injured from the injury he suffered from the high calibre projectile used to fire at him. Hari on the other hand, though seriously injured, is not in a critical state of health.
Since the incident, police officers started visiting the village and have demanded the victims’ families that they should inform everyone inquiring about the incident that their men were shot by the Naxals and not by the police. According to the statement given by the two victims, they have claimed that the police fired at them without provocation when they were sitting near the water body, waiting for the fish to be caught in the net they had cast.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
There are 14 families residing at Khaliapada. Except two, 12 families are landless. All these families have resettled in the village, since the Dumerbahal Irrigation Project evicted them from their original place in Komna Block. At the time of eviction, the government did not provide any compensation to these families. Hence in Khaliapada, these families are left to fetch a living scavenging the forest or by working as manual labourers in neighbouring towns. In 2001-12, only one person in the village was employed under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme.
The villagers claim that so far, to their information, no Naxalite cadres have come to the village nor have they encountered any in the forests. However, the villagers accuse that the CRPF regularly bother them, when they forage in neighbouring forests, accusing them as Naxalite sympathisers. This has largely intervened with the otherwise peaceful life of the villagers.
Equally, it is a regular, uncontrolled, and unprofessional habit of the CRPF for them to molest, bother, assault and torture villagers accusing them as Naxalites or Naxalite sympathisers. In no such cases formal complaints are lodges, since the villagers are scared whether the CRPF would further hurt them or implicate them in false cases. Even if someone is willing to make a complaint, the local police refuses to accept the complaints against the CRPF, since the CRPF is on one hand a central reserve force whereas on the other enjoy comradeship with the local police. State and central governments, as an unwritten policy, also keeps a blind-eye towards the criminal excesses committed by the CRPF on the belief that holding the CRPF accountable for their acts would further demoralise an underpaid, unprofessional and ill-equipped force. Due this combination of factors, the CRPF enjoys absolute impunity in places where they are deployed.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the authorities mentioned below demanding a judicial inquiry in this case. The AHRC is writing separately to the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples calling for an intervention in the case.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear ______,
INDIA: The CRPF firing upon two tribal men and seriously injuring them in Nuapada, Orissa must be investigated
Name of the victims:
1. Mr. Hari Majhi
2. Mr. Hube Majhi, both residents of Khaliapada village near Tarbod police outpost within the jurisdiction of Komna Police Station of Nuapada district in Orissa state
Name of the Perpetrators: Officers of the Central Reserve Police Force stationed at Nuapada
Date of incident: 8 January 2013
Place of incident: Khaliapada village near Tarbod police outpost within the jurisdiction of Komna Police Station of Nuapada district, Orissa state
I am writing to express my concern regarding the alleged incident of police firing upon two tribal men at Khaliapada village near Tarbod police outpost within the jurisdiction of Komna Police Station of Nuapada district, Orissa state. The incident happened on 8 January 2013.
The facts of the case reported to me are as follows:
Mr. Hari Majhi and Mr. Hube Majhi are two tribal men residing at Khaliapada village near Tarbod police outpost within the jurisdiction of Komna Police Station of Nuapada district in Orissa. On 8 January, the two men reportedly went to the forest to lay traps to hunt rabbits and to catch fish from a nearby water body adjacent to their house. After sometime, the family of the two men reported that they heard firing from the direction in which the two men had went. The brother of one of the men rushed to the place to inquire what has happened. The CRPF who were there informed this man that they were engaged in an encounter with the Naxals in the forest and that the Naxals shot the two men.
Contrary to this version of the incident, the villagers claim that the CRPF were inside the forest undertaking a combing operation against the Naxals and fired at the two men, when the CRPF found the men inside the forest. Hari Majhi was shot on his left leg, whereas Hube Majhi, was shot on his chest and he fell. Hari Majhi tried to run towards the village, despite of being shot. But the police forced him down near the village and took him into custody, accusing both men as Naxalite operatives.
It is reported that the police then took both men to the government hospital at Nuapada for treatment. Later the police, contrary to their actions alleged that the two men were shot by the Naxals and not by the police.
Hube had to undergo a surgery to treat his injury and is believed to be critically injured from the injury he suffered from the high calibre projectile used to fire at him. Hari on the other hand, though seriously injured, is not in a critical state of health.
Since the incident, police officers started visiting the village and have demanded the victims’ families that they should inform everyone inquiring about the incident that their men were shot by the Naxals and not by the police. According to the statement given by the two victims, they have claimed that the police fired at them without provocation when they were sitting near the water body, waiting for the fish to be caught in the net they had cast.
There are 14 families residing at Khaliapada. Except two, 12 families are landless. All these families have resettled in the village, since the Dumerbahal Irrigation Project evicted them from their original place in Komna Block. At the time of eviction, the government did not provide any compensation to these families. Hence in Khaliapada, these families are left to fetch a living scavenging the forest or by working as manual labourers in neighbouring towns. In 2001-12, only one person in the village was employed under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme.
The villagers claim that so far, to their information, no Naxalite cadres have come to the village nor have they encountered any in the forests. However, the villagers accuse that the CRPF regularly bother them, when they forage in neighbouring forests, accusing them as Naxalite sympathisers. This has largely intervened with the otherwise peaceful life of the villagers.
Equally, it is a regular, uncontrolled, and unprofessional habit of the CRPF for them to molest, bother, assault and torture villagers accusing them as Naxalites or Naxalite sympathisers. In no such cases formal complaints are lodges, since the villagers are scared whether the CRPF would further hurt them or implicate them in false cases. Even if someone is willing to make a complaint, the local police refuses to accept the complaints against the CRPF, since the CRPF is on one hand a central reserve force whereas on the other enjoy comradeship with the local police. State and central governments, as an unwritten policy, also keeps a blind-eye towards the criminal excesses committed by the CRPF on the belief that holding the CRPF accountable for their acts would further demoralise an underpaid, unprofessional and ill-equipped force. Due this combination of factors, the CRPF enjoys absolute impunity in places where they are deployed.
I therefore request you to:
1. Ensure that a judicial inquiry is ordered in the case;
2. That the judicial magistrate record the statements of the victims and witnesses without any further delay;
3. That the magistrate record the statements at the residence of the victims or at a place and time convenient for the victims and NOT in a police station, court or a CRPF cantonment;
4. The CRPF officers identified by the victims in a secure identification parade undertaken by the judicial magistrate immediately placed on suspension and away from Orissa;
5. The judicial magistrate records all allegations of the victims in the case;
6. The CRPF command undertakes a separate departmental inquiry in the case;
7. The Government of Orissa pays interim financial compensation to the victims and their families;
8. The Government of Orissa appoints a competent legal advisor of the victim’s choice to provide legal assistance to the victims at the expense of the state;
9. That the CRPF ordered to stay away from Khaliapada village, unless the villagers request assistance from the CRPF.
Sincerely,
—————————————
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Dr. Rameshwar Oraon
Chairperson
National Commission for Scheduled Tribes
6th Floor, ‘B’ Wing, Loknayak Bhawan, Khan Market
New Delhi -110003
INDIA
Fax: +91 11 2462462
Email: chairperson@ ncst.nic.in
2. Honourable V. Kishore Chandra Deo
Union Minister of Tribal Affairs
Sansad Bhwan, Room number 105-A
New Delhi
INDIA
Fax: +91 11 2307 0577
Email: jk.popli@ nic.in
3. Honourable Mr. Naveen Patnaik
Chief Minister
Through the office of the Principal Secretary
Home Department, Government of Orissa
Bhubaneswar, Orissa
INDIA
Fax: +91 674 25351006
Email: homesec@ori.nic.in
4. Honourable Chaitanya Prasad Majhi
Minister Scheduled Tribes & Scheduled Castes Development
Minorties and Backward Classes Welfare
Government of Orissa
Bhubaneswar, Orissa
INDIA
5. Dr. Taradatt
Commissioner-cum-Secretary
ST & SC Development, Minorities Backward Classes Welfare Department
Government of Orissa
Bhubaneswar, Orissa
INDIA
Fax: +91 674 2396806
6. Director General of Police
Government of Orissa
Bhubaneswar, Orissa
INDIA
Fax: +91 671 2304033
7. Mr Arvind Kumar Chugh
Secretary, Government of India
Ministry of Tribal affairs
Shastri Bhawan, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Road
New Delhi- 110001
INDIA
Fax: +91 11 2307 3160
8. Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission
Faridkot House, Copernicus Marg
New Delhi 110001
INDIA
Fax + 91 11 2338 4863
E-mail: chairnhrc@nic.in
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)
