Raipur: A day after BP MLA Bhima Mandavi was killed in a Naxal attack along with four security personnel in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada, his father on Wednesday said, an unknown man had threatened him that the lawmaker won’t be alive by evening.
Addressing the Media, Linga Mandavi claimed that a man visited his residence on Tuesday and told him that his son’s dead body will return home by evening. The aggrieved father added that those responsible for his son’s death "will not be spared".
The police officers involved in anti-Naxal operations in the region said that Mandavi was alerted about the possibility of an assault. The BJP MLA was cautioned against visiting the area where his convoy was attacked, DG Girdhari Nayak said. “The attack seems to be plotted on the lines of a similar assault that took place in Jhiram valley years ago”, he added.
The senior cop claimed, Mandavi was given Z category security and was provided an additional security cover of 50 DRG jawans for his protection. “But the BJP MLA refused to follow instructions and asked the jawans to return”, he said.
Moreover, the SHO also requested Mandavi to avoid using the Bacheli-Kuakonda route due to lack of adequate security cover, but even after several warnings, he continued the journey and his convoy was attacked by Naxals, Nayak added.
Meanwhile a political slugfest erupted over the attack with ex-chief minister Dr Raman Singh alleging a larger conspiracy at play. “The Maoists targeted the sole BJP lawmaker from Bastar even while MLAS from other parties were also campaigning in the region,” he said.
Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on the other hand, defended the state police and denied any intelligence failure. "Had Bheema Mandavi listened to the police, he would be alive now. But he did not heed their advice sent the DRG force back. He went out without giving prior information," he said.
Baghel, however, later shared a picture of him paying tribute to the martyrs and said that the Chhattisgarh government and public “won’t bow down to red terror and a befitting reply would be given.”
Mandavi, who was the only BJP MLA elected from Bastar region, had won his first election against late Congress veteran Mahendra Karma in 2008. He was killed along with his driver and three PSOs in an IED blast in Dantewada’s Shyamgiri Nakulnar road on Tuesday.
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