Chattisgarh firing incident: DM ordered a magisterial enquiry into death of three tribal men

New Delhi, May 24

A week after three men from tribal communities were killed in firing following a clash with security personnel in Chhattisgarh's Silger, the collector of Sukma district ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident.

The police also identified the three deceased as Maoist operatives, while families and local residents called them innocent.

The order for the magisterial probe was passed when representatives of the protesting people from tribal communities met the Inspector General of Police and the collectors of Sukma and Bijapur districts on Sunday.

More than 5,000 people from over 30 villages have been protesting for the last 10 days against the decision to set up a security camp at Silger, Sukma. 

As per the case details, On May 17, three people died in firing when a crowd of over 3,000 suddenly approached the camp after the local protesters had left, destroying the camp's fences and attacking police personnel.

The Chattisgarh police stated that the crowd of tribals were Maoists, who started firing indiscriminately, which led to a stampede-like situation. The Maoists didn't heed to warnings of officials, and thus, our personnel had to fire back.

The people protesting near Silger camp travelled 17 km to Hirapur village, near Basaguda, to meet the officials and discuss plausible solutions on May 23.

They returned Rs 10,000 provided to the family of deceased trio, and demanded an independent inquiry into the matter.