Bastar IG to probe 'fake' surrender: CM

Jagdalpur, Jan 8 (UNI) Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh today said the Inspector-General (Bastar Range) has been directed to probe complaints that the police persuaded innocent tribals to surrender as 'Maoists' on January 3.

''The IG will submit his report soon,'' he told mediapersons here when asked about the controversy over the police bringing in 79 people to Raipur and making them surrender as naxals before the Chief Minister at the police headquarters.

Pointing out that cases were pending against those who surrendered, Dr Singh said, ''a clear picture would emerge only after the probe.'' The large-scale 'surrender', sparked off a controversy with the opposition Congress and even the ruling party legislator from Bastar region claiming that innocent tribals were persuaded to surrender.

Bharatiya Janata Party MLA and Parliamentary Secretary Mahesh Baghel, who represents the Keshkal assembly constituency from where these surrendered people hailed, also went public demanding an inquiry and claiming that several of them were in fact active workers of the ruling BJP.

Senior Congress leader and former chief minister Ajit Jogi demanded that the government must publish a white paper highlighting all aspects of the surrender of rebels including the nature of the cases pending.

Meanwhile, Communist Party of India (Marxist) Central Secretariat Member Nilotpal Basu told UNI in the state capital that the probe must be entrusted to an independent agency.

''The CPI(M) Chhattisgarh unit has already demanded an independent inquiry as a probe by the police would be insufficient,'' he said.

Mr Basu said that an inquiry by an independent agency into the extremism-related issues in Bastar would help the state government take appropriate corrective measures to counter the Maoist challenge.

The surrendered ultras and 'Sangam' (grassroots-level CPI(M) sympathisers) were said to have been associated with Keshkal Dalam, Ghurghat Dalam, Barda Dalam and Kiskodo Dalam active in Bastar region.

UNI