Jharkhand HC seeks report from state govt about fake surrender of Naxalites

Ranchi, Oct 8 (PTI) The Jharkhand High Court on Wednesday directed the state government to furnish a status report on the alleged fake surrender of over 500 tribal youth, after the authorities claimed them to be Naxalites.

The youth were made to surrender and were misled to believe that they would be given jobs in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), claimed the petitioner.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Justice Rajesh Shankar was hearing a 10-year-old public interest litigation filed by Jharkhand Council for Democratic Rights.

On behalf of the petitioner, advocate Rajiv Kumar submitted before the court that the police along with the state government had shown the surrender of 514 tribal youth showing them to be members of extremist organisations.

The petitioner has said that the government has shown surrender of innocent tribals and villagers as extremists through a surrender policy executed by the then Union home minister P Chidambaram.

The government had shown surrender of 300 Maoists before Chidambaram at a function in 2014.

However, it was later known that several of the persons shown to be Maoists were innocent and falsely implicated, the petitioner submitted.

The tribals shown to be Naxalites were kept in the old Birsa Munda Jail in the capital and were given training for being appointed as constables in the CRPF, according to the PIL filed in 2015.

The court on Wednesday directed the government to file a report and inform the bench whether the youth kept in the old jail campus were given training to be appointed as CRPF constables.

The petitioner had also said that senior police and government officers were involved in the racket and had shown the surrender to seek government recognition and medals for their feat.

The matter will again be heard in November. PTI CORR NAM NN