Maoist-turned-jawan who died in line of duty fighting his former abductors

Raju Oyam, from remote Bogra village inside the Bhairamgarh forest in Bijapur district, was abducted by Maoists before he'd turned 10.

- Prawesh Lama

NEW DELHI: For the next six summers, the boy shared bunks and broke bread with extremists — brainwashed and trained to wage war against Indian security forces.

On the morning of March 20, in a poetic yet tragic twist of fate, Oyam was the only Indian jawan shot dead in sniper fire during a 10-hour-long gunfight in Bijapur's Andri forest area in which 26 Naxals were killed. Before dying, the 22-year-old shot down four of his former abductors. He'd broken their grasp by surrendering in 2020.

As a member of the police District Reserve Guard (DRG), his death was an honourable one in the line of duty. Since his village is still under Naxal control, Oyam was given a guard of honour by his colleagues, but his family were warned not to bring his body home.

"Oyam's elder brother went to the Bijapur district headquarters for the funeral. Naxals came to their house in the village and warned his brother not to bring the body of a police jawan to the village," one of his relatives, who asked not to be named, told HT.

"This is why the funeral was held in Bhairamgarh and not our village. Naxals still influence our village, but Raju dared to leave the party, surrender, and fight them back."