On 4th November, BJP leader Ratan Dubey was hacked to death by Maoists in the Narayanpur district of Chhattisgarh. Dubey was BJP’s district vice-president. The murder was perpetrated three days ahead of phase one polling in the state on 7th November.
A member of the Narayanpur Zilla Panchayat, Dubey had come to Kaushalnar village to campaign for BJP candidate Kedar Kashyap who is contesting against Congress’s Chandan Kashyap. Dubey was first shot and then attacked with sharp weapons, including axes and daggers, in the Dhaudai region after addressing a poll rally.
Surprisingly, Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel while addressing the media said that “some minor incidents are happening in some places”, in response to the news of a BJP leader’s murder. Ratan Dubey is the seventh BJP leader to be killed in Chhattisgarh this year. Here are the remaining six BJP leaders who fell victim to insurgency in the poll-bound state.
Birju Taram killed on 20th October
BJP worker Birju Taram was shot dead by unidentified assailants in the Maoist-affected town of Ambagarh Chowki in the Mohla-Manpur district of Chhattisgarh on 20th October. Taram was a resident of Sarkheda village. He was shot dead while taking a walk outside his house.
BJP secretary from Rajnandgaon district Ravindra Singh reportedly suspected that Taram was killed due to his association with the Durga puja organisation in the area.
Kaka Arjun killed on 21st June
On 21st June, a group of Maoists murdered a BJP leader and former sarpanch, Kaka Arjun in the Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh. A note found on his body, dumped in the middle of the road, read that he was killed because he worked for the BJP.
Arjun was the secretary of the BJP Bijapur district unit’s Scheduled Tribe wing, as per the party. He had left for Semaldodi village with his wife on a motorbike at around 10 am. He dropped his wife and proceeded to a forest with five other unknown people who were dressed in civilian clothing.
When he did not return for long, his wife came back home. The police said that Arjun’s body was found with his throat slit on the outskirts of Lankapara in Ilmidi, 470 km from Raipur.
Ramdhar Alami killed on 11th February
BJP leader Ramdhar Alami, 43, was killed by Maoists in Barsoor in Dantewada district on 11th February while he was returning home to Hitameta village. The Maoists left a note behind accusing Alami of being a police informer and promoting the Bodhghat dam project.
Alami was the BJP vice-president of Barsur district in 2018. The murder came just one day after the murder of another BJP leader, Sagar Sahu and six days after the killing of Neelkanth Kakem.
Sagar Sahu killed on 10th February
BJP district vice-president in Narayanpur, Sagar Sahu was killed in his house in Chhote Dongar village by Maoists on 10th February.
Two Naxalites reached Sahu’s home on a bike, knocked on his door, and fired two rounds from an AK-47 as soon as the door was opened. Following the encounter, both Maoists rode away into the jungle. The neighbours arrived at the scene after hearing screams of Sahu’s wife and kids, and called the police to report the crime.
Sahu was still alive after the gunshots, according to the locals. He was rushed to the Chhote Dongar hospital. Here, the doctor immediately referred him to Narayanpur District Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead by the doctors.
Neelkanth Kakem killed on 5th February
BJP leader Neelkanth Kakem was brutally hacked to death in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district on 5th February. Three armed Maoists dragged the BJP mandal president of Usoor Block out of his house and beheaded him in front of his family members.
The leader had reportedly gone to his ancestral house in the Awapalli village in Usoor Tehsil in the Bijapur District of Chhattisgarh to attend the wedding of his sister-in-law when he was attacked with axes and knives by left-wing terrorists.
Budhram Katram killed on 16th January
The body of a BJP district leader Budhram Katram was found under suspicious circumstances lying on the roadside about two kilometers from his house in Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh. Katram had left his house early at 5 am for a walk following which he did not return.
His family members began searching for him when they received information that a body was found lying on the roadside near Bastanar. The body was identified by villagers. His family had alleged that Budhram was killed by Maoists.
In February this year, Chhattisgarh BJP president and Lok Sabha MP Arun Sao raised the issue in the Lok Sabha, saying that the Baghel government has failed to provide safety to people.