NHRC FACT <br> FINDING COMMITTEE ON ALLEGATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN CHHATTISGARH

In the directions of the Supreme Court in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 250/07-Nandini Sundar & Others Vs. State of Chhattisgarh and a Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 119/07 - Kartam Joga & Others Vs. State of Chhattisgarh, the National Human Rights Commission constituted a Fact Finding Committee to examine/verify the allegations relating to violation of human rights by Naxalites and Salwa Judum and the living conditions in the refugee settlement colonies in the State of Chhattisgarh. The Fact Finding Committee of the Commission under the supervision of Director General (Investigation), Mr. Sunil Krishna visited 21 of the 23 temporarily relief camps in Dantewada and Bijapur Districts. It also visited 36 villages in the jurisdictions of different Police Stations in order to cover a representative sample in both the Districts. Two officers of the enquiry team visited some of the villages in Warangal and Khammam Districts of Andhra Pradesh in order to interact with the tribals who have allegedly been forced out of Chhattisgarh. On the request of the writ petition the team heard a large number of complainants and asked other villagers brought by the petitioners at Cherla, district Khammam and at Dantewada. On most of the occasions, language did not come in the way of communicating with the villagers and the members of the enquiry team were able to directly interact with them. Wherever required the services of Hindi knowing tribals in the relief camps and the villages were taken to act as interpreters. The enquiry team recorded a total of 328 statements and collected 522 petitions during these interactions. The spot enquiry was conducted in two phases, during which the team also enquired into a representative sample of 168 of the 547 specific allegations made by the petitioners. The Fact Finding Committee completed the enquiry despite the difficult terrain, inaccessibility of the villages, and hostilities.
Members of the enquiry team included Mr. Sudhir Chowdhary, IPS, DIG, Mr. Satinder Pal Singh, IPS, SSP (III), Mrs. Mamta Singh, IPS, SSP (I), Mr. P. S. Rao, Dy SP, Mr. A. V. Issac, Dy SP, Mr. O.P. Vyas, Dy SP, Mr. H. C. Mishra, Dy SP (Retd.), Mr. Rajbir Singh, Inspector, Mr. Bhag Singh, Inspector, Mr. Ved Dhankar, Inspector, Mr. Ravi Singh, Inspector, Mr. Lal Bahar, Inspector, Mr. Kuldeep Lohani, Inspector, Mr. D. N. Rath, Inspector, Mr. Simanchal, Constable, Mr. Raj Kumar Goel, Personal Assistant.
The detail report was submitted to the Supreme Court.