Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India] : Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, on Sunday expressed his condolences on the killing of a BJP leader in Narayanpur and affirmed that Naxalite insurgency had improved compared to before as local police forces have significantly improved their counterinsurgency capabilities.
CM Bhupesh Baghel said, “I express my condolences to the family members. Due to the pressure from our force, the Naxals have moved back. People can now fearlessly travel to interior parts. Some small incidents have been happening but the situation has improved a lot compared to before.”
Earlier, a local BJP leader, Ratan Dubey, was murdered on Saturday by two unidentified Naxals in the insurgency-hit Narayanpur district.
“BJP leader Ratan Dubey had gone for an election campaign. Two unidentified Naxals attacked him with sharp weapons. He was brought to the district hospital, critically injured. The doctors declared him dead. An investigation is underway,” Narayanpur SP Pushkar Sharma said.
Bastar Range IG Sundarraj P said a team has been dispatched to the spot and the ongoing investigation will throw fresh light into the matter.
The BJP’s Chhattisgarh polls-in-charge, Om Prakash Mathur, reacted to the incident, saying it shows the poor law and order situation in the state.
“While Ratan Dubey was chairing a meeting with the party workers in an interior village, he came under attack by some Naxals. I appeal to the party workers and leaders to help us avenge the killing by voting us back in the elections. We are with his family. Target killings are happening frequently and only goes to show the worsening law and order situation in the state,” Mathur said.
Notably, the first phase of voting in Chhattisgarh is going to be held after 2 days on 7th November in which voting will be held on 12 assembly seats of Bastar division and 8 assembly seats of Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha constituency. However, voting is going to take place in these 20 seats at different times.