Jhiram Valley Attack: NIA Probe Reveals Three-Month Maoist Plan Behind 2013 Ambush

The 2013 Jhiram Valley attack was the result of months of planning, detailed reconnaissance and coordinated mobilisation, with Maoists surveying the route, rehearsing the operation and arranging food and manpower well before the Congress convoy entered Bastar, according to the NIA investigation cited in a special court order.

The order, uploaded on Friday, followed the September 16 sentencing of 10 accused to death by the special NIA court in Jagdalpur. The court said the evidence showed that the attack was “pre-planned and carried out deliberately”, making it a “rarest of rare” case.

The attack on the Congress' Parivartan Yatra on May 25, 2013 killed 27 people, including state Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel, his son Dinesh, former Leader of Opposition Mahendra Karma, former Union minister Vidya Charan Shukla and former MLA Uday Mudliyar.

The NIA found that the plan was discussed at a South Regional Unified Command meeting between February 16 and 25, following which a special team was formed. The operation came under the Darbha divisional committee of the Maoist South Regional Unified Command, with Deva tasked with conducting it.

The Sukma-Jagdalpur highway was surveyed, an ambush location selected and a rehearsal conducted six to seven days before the attack near Ekkam-Chakpal.

Logistics were organised in advance. Around 25 sacks of rice, each weighing about 50 kg, were collected from Koleng village and stored before being handed over to cadres. On May 22 and 23, around 100 armed Maoists and militia members established temporary command posts on both sides of the road.

On May 25, an explosion was followed by firing from both sides and from a hill overlooking the convoy. Investigators found 206 bullet marks on vehicles and estimated that 150-200 Maoist cadres, including women, took part. Nine AK-47s, seven INSAS rifles, four 9-mm pistols and two SLRs were looted.

The investigation also found that the attackers were specifically looking for Mahendra Karma and Nand Kumar Patel. Karma was identified, shot at close range and subjected to further assault; his post-mortem recorded 69 injuries.

After the firing, Patel, his son Dinesh, their driver and then MLA Kawasi Lakhma were taken into the forest. Patel and Dinesh were later shot from behind, while Lakhma and the driver reached Darbha police station.

The case was handed to the NIA two days after the attack. The agency subsequently examined 101 witnesses during the trial.