Police finger at Maoists for killing homeless on suspicion of being moles * * *NARESH JANA , The Telegraph - Calcutta*
*A mentally ill man (face blurred) in Lalgarh. ** Picture by Samir Mondal* *Salboni, Nov. 17*: At least 30 beggars, vagabonds and mentally ill people living on the roads have been shot or battered to death in the past four months in Maoist-affected areas of West Midnapore. “We suspect that it is the handiwork of Maoists who possibly thought that they were secretly passing on information to police, said Praveen Tripathi, Jhargram superintendent of police. Twelve unidentified bodies were found in Salboni, 10 in Belpahari, five in Lalgarh and five in Nayagram, a police officer said, adding the bodies were found “in the jungles, on roads or in the marketplace”. “Most of them were shot. Some were hit and battered with heavy objects, presumably stones or rifle butts,” he said. Maoists usually shoot their victims and have also been known to behead them or slit throats. Residents said that in the past three to four months, destitutes seen on the roads every day suddenly began to go missing. Tarapada Pal, a cloth trader in the Chaktarini village market in Salboni, said three mentally ill men used to wander around the neighbourhood and live off alms from residents. “In July, two of them went missing. We were all wondering where they might have gone. Then I went to the police station for some work the same month. The officer-in-charge was not in, so I was waiting for him outside,” Tarapada said. “An officer I knew called me and brought out photographs of a few bodies. He wanted to know if I knew any of them since I am a local resident. I immediately recognised the two who had disappeared from Chaktarini bazaar. They had bullet wounds in their heads. The policeman told me the bodies were found on a road 3km away.” he added. In Belpahari town, a telephone booth owner similarly identified two bodies that had no claimants. The booth owner, who asked not to be named, said three unidentified bodies were found in Banspahari about 26km away. “I recognised one as a beggar and another as a mentally ill man, both of whom were familiar faces in Belpahari town. One was shot through the head and the other’s head was smashed with something heavy,” he said. It was not clear though how the bodies were found so far away in Banspahari. “Either they had migrated to Banspahari or their bodies were dumped there,” a police officer said. The district social welfare officer, Mosaraf Hossain, said there was no official record of people living on the streets. “However, we will inform NGOs and discuss the problem with them. We will discuss with the NGOs if it is possible to shift these people from sensitive areas to some safer places,” he said. Tripathi said he had asked police stations in Maoist-hit areas to try and relocate the homeless from there. “We are trying to find out whether there are any ashrams or shelters for them in the district,” he said. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1101118/jsp/bengal/story_13190968.jsp -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Mental Health Advocacy (News 'N Views) India" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/MhaNewsViewsIndia?hl=en ------------- Affiliated Groups : MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCACY INDIA [email protected] Discussions on mental health law / policy / plan monitoring / human rights etc [email protected] India-specific news and views related to mental health [email protected] Information and support to carers of people with mental health issues [email protected] Mutual support and sharing of experiential knowledge, skills and social learning amongst peers
