Bhubaneswar, July 15: A-three member team, constituted by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah to look into the brutal killing of five innocent villagers at Krutamgada will be visiting Kandhamal district today. The team is comprised of party vice president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe and national secretaries Jyoti Dhurve and Ramvichar Netam who will be proceeding to the area to interact with the family members of the victims. All three of them are Members of Parliament (MPs) while Dhurve and Netam are tribal leaders.
BJP sources said that the team will be submitting a report to the party chief at the earliest. Earlier in the day, Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra, along with some of his party legislators, went to Kandhamal to take note of the situation. On July 8, five persons, including two women and a child, were killed, and seven others injured in an incident the security forces have sought to pass off crossfire during an anti-Maoist operation in the district.
In a related development, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), taking suo motu cognizance of the death of the villagers of Gumudumaha, yesterday sought a report on the incident from the Centre as well as the State government. The commission has given two weeks’ time to submit the report.
Chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) PL Punia, who visited Gumudumaha village and spoke to the family members and relatives of the victims on Thursday, has rubbished the police claim of crossfire. Condemning the incident, Punia said that stern action must be taken against the wrongdoers.
