Villagers death: NCST suggests psychiatric test of SOC jawans

The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes today suggested to the Odisha government to conduct psychiatric test of the Special Operations Group (SOG) jawans allegedly involved in the gunning down of five villagers during an anti-Maoist operation in Kandhamal.
"Certainly the jawans involved in the killings should undergo psychiatric test. They opened fire on innocent civilians without any provocation, none had attacked them. This is wrong," NCST chairman Rameshwar Oraon told reporters after meeting the family of the victims at Baliguda in Kandhamal district.
Rejecting the police version that the villagers were caught in the crossfire during the operation on Friday night and got killed, Oraon said "no such thing happened at all".

"This is an unfortunate incident and it should not have happened at all," he said.
"Nobody including the police and the district administration is contesting that the jawans opened fire unilaterally. There was no provocation at all," Oraon said adding both the victims' family members and the administration admitted that innocent people were killed.
He said the jawans engaged in the operation should have minimum knowledge that Naxals do not come on vehicles.

"While they (Maoist) move on foot in the jungles, civilians move in vehicles. They should have applied minimum knowledge before opening fire," he said.
Oraon said he would suggest the state government to take steps to avoid repeat of such incidents.

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Asked whether the jawans had adopted standard operating procedure (SOP) during the encounter, Oraon contended no such precautions were taken by the police.
"Even there was no intelligence input regarding movement of Maoists in the vehicle," the NCST chairman said.
Replying to a question on the possible action against the jawans involved in the incident, Oraon said, "The law of the land should be applied in this case. The people who have killed innocent civilians should face the charge of murder."
Earlier, Oraon along with NCST Secretary Anil Agarwal and Director RK Dubey, spent the night at Phulbani and met the family members of the victims at Baliguda this morning.

The team spent over two hours with the affected family members and enquired about the incident and how it took place.
They also met the DIG and the SP concerned and held discussions with them.
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After meeting Odisha Chief Secretary A P Padhi and other senior officials, Oraon expressed satisfaction over the steps taken by the state government in the aftermath of the killing of villagers.
He appreciated the state government for announcing a judicial inquiry and setting up a SIT to probe the incident.
Oraon, however, said that though the Centre gives funds for the development of tribals in the state, there has been no tangible progress made in the tribal areas of the state.

"I will like to suggest that the state government adopt the model of Maharastra and Andhra Pradesh for the socio-economic development of tribals," he said.