Cong raises doubts, later congratulates forces

A day after 29 Naxals were killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh the Congress has cast aspersions on the encounter claiming that during the BJP tenure several innocent villagers had been labelled Naxals and killed.

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Former Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel who is also a Congress candidate in the Lok Sabha elections was the first to raise the doubts claiming that there had been several fake encounters during the BJP regime in the state and even innocent villagers were arrested on grounds of being Naxals. Baghel said that the Police had been threatening villagers as well. He claimed that during his tenure several Naxals had been killed or they had surrendered.

Later in the day, Baghel congratulated the security forces.“I congratulate the security forces who fought bravely and achieved success in this operation. This is a result of the policies we brought during our government,” he said.