Written by Gargi Verma
| Teklagudam (chhattisgarh) |
April 7, 2021 4:44:51 am
ON TUESDAY, Mangdu Barse, 20, lay on a cot within the awning of his hut with bruised lips; he pulled the decrease lip down, slowly, to reveal 4 lacking tooth.
In Teklagudam village, the epicenter of the gunbattle between Maoists and safety forces on Saturday, Barse was one of many few who stayed again until late, and was allegedly crushed up by police personnel, an allegation the police chief stated he would look into.
“When we saw the police personnel approach, we locked ourselves in our houses. Those who didn’t got beaten up. After a few hours, we heard the noise of heavy firing and we fled,” stated Bhima Korsa, 29, one other resident of Teklagudam.
Bastar I-G P Sundarraj stated he would look into the allegations. “We have no information of villagers being targeted, our forces were engaged in combat with Maoists. I will look into the allegations,” he instructed The Indian Express.
On Saturday, the 150 or so villagers of Teklagudam escaped into the forest, after which to Poovarti, round half-hour from the village on the opposite facet of hills – they stated they have been nervous about being caught within the crossfire between police and the Maoists.

Teklagudam was the primary web site of the encounter, sources stated. The Maoists then chased police personnel outwards – in the direction of Jhiragaon, hardly 1 km from Teklagudam, the place 14 our bodies of safety personnel have been discovered on Sunday. Twenty-two personnel misplaced their lives; 31 have been injured within the assault.
“Some of us went to Poovarti, some only went inside the jungles. We returned only on Monday, after the security personnel had left the area,” Ramesh Korsa, 17, stated. Korsa, a faculty pupil in Jagargunda, stated he was among the many previous couple of to flee.

While the village was abandoned when The Indian Express visited on Sunday, it had most of its inhabitants again on Tuesday. The younger males stated they’re afraid of police retaliation.
Mangdu Barse had ventured out of his home to select forest produce on Saturday. He claimed he was crushed up by the police with rods and gun butts.