TRIBALS - 2012 - Indian Social Institute

directions from the Union Home Ministry to nail the culprits behind the videography of the Jarawa tribal,
the police sought help of the NTRO in establishing the source computer from where it was uploaded so
that legal action could be initiated in the case. Under the Protection of Aboriginal Tribes (PAT) Act, taking
pictures or video shooting of tribals is banned. The police was also trying to identify the voice of a
purported travel agent whose telephone conversation with a British journalist has been uploaded. This
also, according to officials of the union territory, seems to be a design of some vested interests to prevent
building a road within the jungles of South Andaman. The Centre has already cleared Andaman Trunk
Road (ATR) to connect the Northern part of the island with the southern part. Some portion of the road
passes through the jungles of South Andaman where 383-member Jarwa tribe was located. The officials
reasoned that while utmost care was taken in preserving the geography and jungles but the road was a
necessity to connect lakhs of people in Andaman who used to face acute shortage of food supplies during
the time when the sea was rough. (Times of India 15/1/12)
Adivasi dies in police custody in Chhattisgarh (6)
New Delhi, January 16, 2012: On the day Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh addressed a public
gathering to mark the creation of Sukma district, carved out of Maoist-affected Dantewada, a custodial
death in the Sukma police station underlines the difficulty in winning over a disaffected tribal populace in
the backdrop of a violent counterinsurgency campaign. Podiyam Mara of Kondre village died in the police
station on the night of January 13, just hours after he was presented before a magistrate and remanded in
judicial custody. “Mara hanged himself in the police lock-up using a bedsheet. Four constables have been
suspended,” said a police spokesperson, “He was to be transferred to Dantewada jail, but he was held in
the police station overnight as it was too late to travel on the night of the 13th.” “[Mara] was picked up on
January 12 during a CRPF operation and handed over the police the following morning,” said Inspector-
General Pankaj Mishra of the Central Reserve Police Force, “If we encounter a suspect during an
operation, the CRPF hands him over to the local police.” However, policemen and party leaders from
across the political spectrum say the CRPF picked up Mr. Mara several days earlier, and brutally tortured
before turning him over to the local police. The police and the CRPF have denied these allegations. “The
CRPF caught Mara on January 9, just outside Sukma town. He had come to town to cash a cheque for
money earned by collecting tendu leaves,” said Kowasi Lakma, vice-president of the Chhattisgarh
Congress Committee and Member of Parliament from Konta, of which Sukma is a part. “I personally
called everyone from the thana in-charge upwards to get him released. He was tortured to death... the
CRPF electrocuted his genitals and poured petrol up his anus.” “The police story of suicide is completely
false. Mara was brutally assaulted in the CRPF camp in Sukma. There has to be a probe and the guilty
must be brought to book,” said Manish Kunjam of the Communist Party of India and former MLA from
Konta, over telephone. As per a January 16 report in the Indian Express, post mortem confirmed that Mr.
Mara had “swelling over the penis and lateral part of the anus.” The Indian Express also quoted a
policeman who said Mr. Mara's genitals had been doused with petrol and set on fire. Sources in the
Intelligence agencies confirmed that the CRPF had played a role in Mr. Mara's death. “He was picked up
as it was suspected that he was a Naxalite. He was subjected to harsh interrogation and may have died
of internal haemorrhage,” said the source, seeking anonymity. The source stopped short of commenting
on Mr. Mara's innocence. “The fact that there were no follow-up operations suggests that he did not
provide any information of value,” said the source. In September last year, The Hindu reported a similar
instance in which Madkam Jogarao, a tribal, died of brain haemorrhage soon after he was arrested and
interrogated by the CRPF and district police. “The new district of Sukma was created to bring the
administration and the justice system closer to Adivasis of Bastar. This will be possible only when the
ordinary citizen feels free and secure,” said Nandkumar Sai, a senior tribal leader and BJP Rajya Sabha
MP. “The medical report confirms that Mara was tortured. Suspending constables is not enough, a free
and fair investigation must affix responsibility and punish the guilty.” (The Hindu 16/1/12)