Jharkhand HC seeks status report on alleged fake surrender of 514 tribal youths branded as Maoists

Ranchi: The Jharkhand High Court on Wednesday sought a detailed status report from the state government in connection with the alleged fake surrender of 514 tribal youths who were falsely branded as Maoists.

The matter came up for hearing before a division bench of Chief Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Justice Rajesh Shankar, which directed the government to submit its report by the next hearing on November 20.

The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the Jharkhand Council for Democratic Rights, which has accused senior police and administrative officials of orchestrating a massive fake surrender operation to inflate anti-Naxal achievements and gain recognition and awards from the Union Home Ministry.

According to the petition, 514 tribal youths from various districts were falsely declared as Maoists and coerced into surrendering between 2010 and 2013.

The PIL alleges that these youths were lured with false promises of jobs in the CRPF, while crores of rupees were spent from the state exchequer to stage-manage the surrender event and subsequent “rehabilitation.”

The court also referred to earlier proceedings in which it had directed the Union Home Ministry and the State Home Secretary to submit a sealed report on the facts surrounding the case.

It has further asked the government to clarify whether the surrendered youths were ever given arms or training inside the old Ranchi jail complex, and if such training had any legal or administrative sanction.

A controversial coaching institute has also come under scrutiny for allegedly colluding with local police and administrative officials to identify and falsely brand innocent tribal youths as Maoists.

A preliminary internal police inquiry had found that only 10 out of the 514 youths had any verifiable links to Maoist activity.

Investigators recorded statements from 128 of the accused, but many could not be traced or did not exist at the given addresses.

Despite the glaring irregularities, the official investigation was later closed without reaching a conclusion, prompting civil rights groups to approach the High Court for intervention.

IANS