76 soldiers were martyred in the Naxalite attack in Chhattisgarh. Why did the court acquit all the accused after 16 years?
The Chhattisgarh High Court has delivered a major verdict in the 2010 Tadmetla Maoist attack case. The court rejected the state government's appeal. Seventy-six security personnel were killed in the attack. A lower court had acquitted all ten accused. The state government filed an appeal in the High Court in this case. Following the court's decision, all ten accused remain acquitted. The court noted a lack of direct evidence and procedural flaws in the investigation.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Ravindra Kumar Agrawal upheld the trial court's acquittal of the accused. Justice Ramesh Sinha pointed out serious flaws in the investigation and prosecution. The order, passed on May 5, was uploaded on the High Court's website on Thursday.
Why was the decision to acquit the accused upheld?
The order stated that despite the gravity of the crime, the acquittal of the accused in the case of the major attack on CRPF personnel was upheld. The main reasons for this were the lack of direct evidence, incomplete circumstantial evidence, lapses in the investigation process, and the failure to prove the guilt of the accused "beyond reasonable doubt."
The case relates to a deadly Maoist ambush that occurred on April 6, 2010, in the forests of Tadmetla village, under the jurisdiction of the Chintagufa police station. At the time, this area was part of Dantewada district, but now it is part of Sukma district. A team from the 62nd Battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was on an area domination patrol, along with state police personnel. Heavily armed Maoists opened fire, killing 75 CRPF personnel and one state police officer.
All were acquitted in 2013.
Ten people were arrested in this case, and a charge sheet was filed against them in the judicial magistrate's court in Konta. The case was later transferred to the Dantewada sessions court. They were charged with crimes including criminal conspiracy, rioting, and robbery with intent to murder under the Indian Penal Code, the Arms Act, and the Explosive Substances Act.
On January 7, 2013, the Additional Sessions Judge of Dantewada acquitted all 10 accused. The judge stated in his verdict that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges "beyond a reasonable doubt." Two of the 10 acquitted individuals have since died. Challenging the acquittal, the state government filed an appeal in the High Court in 2014.
