On Wednesday, June 21, a group of Naxalites killed a Bharatiya Janata Party (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. Madded area committee of Maoists have claimed responsibility for the killing.
Chhattisgarh | "Naxals killed a BJP leader, Kaka Arjun near Ilmidi village in Bijapur," says Additional SP Chandrakant Governa
— ANI MP/CG/Rajasthan (@ANI_MP_CG_RJ) June 21, 2023
Further details awaited.
Arjun was the secretary of the BJP Bijapur district unit’s Scheduled Tribe wing, as per the party.
Arjun is the fifth BJP leader to be killed by Maoists this year. Notably, the murder happened a day before HM Amit Shah is scheduled to visit the state’s Durg district.
Condemning the killing of the BJP functionary, the opposition BJP in the state termed it a targeted killing and demanded a high-level probe into it. The party alleged that Maoists had the protection of the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government in the state.
OP Chaudhary, general secretary of the Chhattisgarh BJP, tweeted, “Another dastardly murder by Naxalites. It is clear from the brutal killing of Bijapur District ST Front Minister, former Sarpanch Arjun Kaka that BJP workers are being killed in a pre-planned manner. Law and order have ended in the state.”
नक्सलियों द्वारा एक और नृशंस हत्या
— Om Prakash (Om ji ) Mathur (@OmMathur_bjp) June 21, 2023
बीजापुर जिला एस.टी.मोर्चा मंत्री , पूर्व सरपंच अर्जुन काका की बेहरहमी से की गयी हत्या से स्पष्ट है कि चुनाव पूर्व नियोजित तरीक़े से भाजपा कार्यकर्ताओं को मारा जा रहा है , प्रदेश में कानून व्यवस्था समाप्त हो चुकी है@BJP4CGState pic.twitter.com/fiCFHImqPv
Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh Congress spokesperson Dhananjay Singh Thakur said the killing was highly unfortunate and accused the BJP of politicising the matter.
According to Bijapur Additional Superintendent of Police Chandrakant Gavarna, Arjun, who presided as the sarpanch (head) of Ilmidi village panchayat from 2016 to 2020, left for Semaldodi village with his wife on a motorbike at around 10 am on Wednesday.
When he got there, 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, he said.
The officer said the body, with the throat slit, was found on the outskirts of Lankapara in Ilmidi, 470km from Raipur.
Police said they discovered a note at the scene issued in the name of the Madded area committee of Maoists. The note read that Arjun was associated with the BJP since 2014 and was working against the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist), police said.
In the note, the Naxals warned that any person who works against the banned CPI (Maoists) outfit will meet the same fate.
Arjun is the fifth BJP leader who has been assassinated by Maoists this year. In fact, in February this year, BJP raised the issue of the killing of party leaders in Chhattisgarh. BJP accused the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government of starting a proxy war against the BJP using the Maoists as the front.
Chhattisgarh BJP president Arun Sao also raised the issue in parliament after four BJP leaders were killed in Bastar district in a month, reportedly by Maoists and urged the Centre to direct the Chhattisgarh government to ensure the safety of the people. He said that the murders of four BJP members were a result of targeted killings and political conspiracy.
He also demanded an impartial probe into the death of the BJP’s local leaders in Bastar by any independent agency.
After BJP’s stand on the matter, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel rejected security failure claims and maintained that the killings were the last efforts by Maoists to establish their presence as they are losing ground in the Bastar area.
