Top cop behind the attack on tribal activist Soni Sori?

Bengaluru, Feb 23: As Soni Sori, tribal activist and Aam Party Party (AAP) leader, is undergoing treatment in the national capital after she was attacked with an acid-like chemical in Dantewada recently, the role of a top cop of Chhattisgarh has come under the scanner.

The attack on her is a conspiracy by the local police, alleged the AAP.

Members of AAP have demanded stringent action against Bastar Range Inspector General of Police SRP Kalluri against whom Sori had failed to lodge a police complaint earlier this month.

"The acid attack of 20/02/2016 on Soni Sori, teacher and tribal rights activist, is the latest in a series of blatant attempts to silence the voices of protest in Bastar. Whether it is acid or lubricant which has been thrown on her face, the fact is that it is an attempt to intimidate her into silence," said a petition demanding justice for Sori.

"For her efforts to provide justice to the local people, she has long been the target of the State, especially the Bastar IG SRP Kalluri who publicly targeted Sori and Linga and demanded a social boycott of them. Sori's attempts to register an FIR against Kalluri have met with no success till now."

"She had recently been actively demanding justice for Hidma, a local villager who had been killed by the police. Her attackers threatened Sori not only to put an end to the demands in Hidma's case, but also to withdraw her complaints against Kalluri or else her daughter might be attacked. It should be noted that Kalluri is the very same person who was behind the Tadmetla encounter in 2010, which is still being probed by the Judicial Commission and CBI," added the petition.

However, the Chhattisgarh Police has denied it had any role in the attack on her.

"This is not an acid attack. Someone threw black ink or grease on Soni Sori's face in Dantewada. She is suffering pain because the black material rubbed on her face made scratches," Special Director General of Police (Anti-Naxal operations) DM Awasthi told PTI.

"An FIR has been lodged and we trying to locate the mischief-mongers. Police are actively searching for them," he said.

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