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🇮🇳 India /Crime & Justice

‘He Didn’t Know How to Shoot’: Families of Jhiram Valley Attack Convicts Challenge Verdict and Claim Innocence

From Hindustan Times · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Outcome reported
  • A special NIA court convicted all 10 accused more than 13 years after the Jhiram Valley attack, which killed 29 people.
  • Relatives of several convicts, including Joga Markam and Kosa Kavasi, deny their involvement and say they were elsewhere when the attack occurred.
  • The 2013 ambush killed senior Congress leaders, including Nand Kumar Patel, Mahendra Karma and Vidya Charan Shukla.

More than 13 years after a Maoist ambush killed 29 people in Chhattisgarh’s Jhiram Valley, relatives of those convicted are challenging the judgment and insisting that the accused had nothing to do with the attack.

A special National Investigation Agency court on Saturday convicted all 10 accused in the case. The attack virtually wiped out the Congress leadership in the state. Two women are among those convicted.

My elder brother is Joga Markam. He had no hand in the Jhiram Ghati case incident. They brought him in, saying he carried out such an attack.

· Durjan MarkamMarkam disputed his brother’s conviction and said he had been wrongly implicated.

Durjan Markam, the brother of convict Joga Markam, said his elder brother had been wrongly accused. He also criticized repeated changes to the date of the verdict. “My elder brother is Joga Markam. He had no hand in the Jhiram Ghati case incident,” Durjan said, according to ANI. He added that Markam “didn’t know how to shoot an arrow or use a gun.”

Relatives of Kosa Kavasi made similar claims. His brother Guddu Kavasi Kosa said Kosa was preparing for a family wedding when the attack took place. He said another convict, Mukka Mandavi, was also occupied with wedding preparations in the village. “They were not there at the time of the attack,” Guddu told Hindustan Times. “Those who were involved have surrendered and are living freely, while those who were not involved are paying the price. The families are distressed and shattered.”

He didn’t know how to shoot an arrow or use a gun.

· Durjan MarkamHe cited this as an argument that his brother could not have carried out the attack.

The other convicts are Pramila Modiyam, Chaitu Lekam, Sumitra Punem Modiyam, Aayata Markam, Madkami Deva, Banjami Sanna and Mahadev Nag. The attack took place on May 25, 2013, when Maoists ambushed the Congress Parivartan Rally convoy on a national highway in Jhiram Valley, in Bastar district’s Darbha police station area.

Those killed included then-state Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel and his son Dinesh, former state opposition leader Mahendra Karma, former union minister Vidya Charan Shukla and senior Congress leader and former legislator Uday Mudliyar. Then-chief minister Amit Jogi survived with injuries.

They were not there at the time of the attack. Those who were involved have surrendered and are living freely, while those who were not involved are paying the price. The families are distressed and shattered.

· Guddu Kavasi KosaHe defended Kosa Kavasi and Mukka Mandavi and criticized the convictions.
About this summary

Originally published by Hindustan Times in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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