Did not name Nandini Sundar or anyone else, wife of murdered Chhattisgarh villager tells NDTV

Police has cited murdered villager Shamnath Baghel's wife's statement as the basis of their FIR against Sundar and others

The wife of a villager who was murdered in Chhattisgarh's Maoist-hit Bastar told NDTV that she had not named Delhi University professor Nandini Sundar or Jawaharlal Nehru University's Archana Prasad as those involved in her husband's death. 

Media reports from Tuesday had said that the police had registered a first information report (FIR) against Sundar and Prasad based on a complaint by the victim's wife. 

"An FIR was lodged against DU Professor Nandini Sundar, Archana Prasad (JNU Professor), Vineet Tiwari (from Delhi's Joshi Adhikar Sansthan), Sanjay Parate (Chhattisgarh CPI (Marxist) State Secretary) and others along with Maoists for the murder of Shamnath Baghel based on the complaint of his wife on Saturday," Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) SRP Kalluri had told news agencies.

They were booked under sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder), 147 (rioting), 148 and 149 of IPC at Tongpal Police Station, the IG said, adding, "... Strongest possible action will be taken against those guilty after the investigation".

Baghel's wife, Vimla, told NDTV that the family had been sleeping on November 4, when the Maoists came to their house and the incident occurred. She added that she did not know the people who murdered her husband and that she could not see them properly either. 

"When I did not open the door, they broke it down. They barged in and dragged my husband out of the house. They had guns, swords... They pointed a gun at me and asked me to stay inside. There were 15-20 men... I did not know any of them. I could not see them properly as they flashed a torch at me. They did not say a word. They took him and killed him on the road," Vimla told NDTV.

Business Standard could not independently ascertain the veracity of the reported claims.

Armed Naxals had allegedly killed Baghel, according to media reports, with sharp weapons on the night of November 4, at his residence in Nama village under Kumakoleng gram panchayat in Tongpal area, around 450 km away from Raipur.

Baghel, the reports added, had been spearheading the protest against Naxal activities in his village since April.

Upon being asked whether the attackers had mentioned Sundar's name, Vimla told NDTV that they had not taken the DU professor's name and added that she had given no names to the police either.

However, according to the complaint cited by the police as the basis of their FIR, the attackers kept telling Baghel that he was being punished because he did not listen to Sundar. 

The NDTV report said that Vimla Baghel's one-page statement, which was released by the police, described the attack and also named the attackers. Further, the complaint said that the attackers had accused Baghel of trying to block Sundar's visits.