On Saturday (4th November), BJP leader Ratan Dubey was brutally murdered by Maoists in the insurgency-hit Narayanpur district of Chhattisgarh. The BJP’s district vice-president’s murder comes ahead of the first phase of polling in the state.
Chhattisgarh | A BJP leader (Ratan Dubey) was murdered today in the insurgency-hit Narayanpur district of Chhattisgarh, said Bastar Range IG Sundarraj P.
— ANI MP/CG/Rajasthan (@ANI_MP_CG_RJ) November 4, 2023
On being asked about Naxal involvement, the IG said that a team has been dispatched to the location and anything in this…
Ratan Dubey, who was a member of the Narayanpur Zilla Panchayat, 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.
According to a Times of India report, after the campaign, a cockfight was held near the dais, and a large crowd gathered around it. The Maoist attackers, disguised as villagers, moved away from the gathering and began approaching the dais. Ratan Dubey, however, soon recognised them, got off the dais and started running. The ruckus diverted everyone’s attention away from the cockfight to see Dubey being pursued by several men wielding firearms, daggers, and axes. The chase continued for a few hundred metres until one of the perpetrators shot Ratan Dubey in the back. As an injured Dubey fell on the ground, the Maoist assailants attacked him with axes and daggers.
Notably, Ratan Dubey’s murder came just ten days after the Maoists issued a threat to political candidates and their supporters “not to come seeking votes in Bastar.”
In a statement on Saturday, Sundarraj P, Inspector General of police of Bastar range said, “At around 05:30 pm, Dubey had gone to Kaushalnar village, about 5km east from Jhargati police station, for campaigning, when he was attacked and killed with a sharp weapon by unidentified Maoists. After receiving information about the incident, police and security forces were sent to the spot, and the deceased’s body is being brought to the district headquarters at Narayanpur.”
Later in the evening, the mortal remains of Ratan Dubey were brought to the District Hospital in Narayanpur.
#WATCH | The mortal remains of BJP leader Ratan Dubey who was murdered today in the insurgency-hit Narayanpur district of Chhattisgarh was brought to the District Hospital in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur. https://t.co/ibZF2HBsIX pic.twitter.com/DBiVQmMggP
— ANI MP/CG/Rajasthan (@ANI_MP_CG_RJ) November 4, 2023
Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh BJP in-charge Om Mathur said, “While Ratan Dubey was chairing a meeting with the party workers in an interior village, was attacked by the Naxals. I appeal to the party workers & leaders that we will take revenge for this by winning the elections. We are with his family…Target killings are happening continuously. This shows that the law & order situation in the state is worsening…”
#WATCH | BJP Chhattisgarh in charge, Om Prakash Mathur says, "While Ratan Dubey he was chairing a meeting with the party workers in an interior village, was attacked by the Naxals…I appeal to the party workers & leaders that we will take revenge for this by winning the… https://t.co/ibZF2HBsIX pic.twitter.com/N0aFGCuDvT
— ANI MP/CG/Rajasthan (@ANI_MP_CG_RJ) November 4, 2023
Ratan Dubey’s heinous murder comes just days after BJP worker Birju Taram was shot dead on October 20 by suspected Maoists in Sarkheda village, Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki district.
Notably, Narayanpur is one of the 20 Assembly seats that will hold the election on the 7th of November. The second phase of voting for the state assembly will take place on 17th November, with results to be announced in December.
