People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Jharkhand unit, has issued a public appeal to Maoists to desist from planting IEDs which has resulted in deaths and injuries of several people.

The PUCL has also appealed to the state government to compensate the families of those killed or injured in blasts allegedly planted by rebels.

The appeal was issued by PUCL Jharkhand president Chandrashekhar Bhattacharya. In his appeal, Bhattacharya has termed the death of 52-year-old villager Krishna Purti of Ichahatu village in West Singhbhum district in an IED blast and serious injuries to his wife Nandi Purty as a “stigma for the civilized society”.

“The PUCL strongly condemns this incident as we consider everyone’s life precious. We condemn every attempt to take away the constitutional right to live with dignity,” said Bhattacharya in a statement.

The statement, while expressing concern over such types of incidents happening in the Chaibasa area as well as in other areas of Jharkhand, appeals to “the people responsible for such action” to refrain from taking the lives of innocent villagers “by disrupting their routine”.

“The forest is the basis of the life and livelihood of the forest dwellers, so it is natural and necessary for them to go to the forest. A similar incident took place a few days ago in the Runkuburu forest of Chaibasa where Patatarob’s wife Jeba Bahanta was injured. She had gone to the forest to collect wood, while the Purti couple were going to the field to harvest pigeon peas,” the PUCL statement adds.

“Last year, Lalita Devi of Nareshgarh in Latehar district of Jharkhand was injured in a similar IED blast on April 12. She went to the forest to pick up Mahua. Lalita, who lost her leg in the incident, is on a wheelchair and still waiting for compensation. Apart from this, many villagers and policemen have also been injured in the IED blast,” it reads.

The statement mentions: “The government and the administration are also indifferent towards it. Although there is a provision of compensation from both the Central Government as well as the State Government for those who are affected in such incidents, injured villagers neither get the facility of proper treatment nor are paid proper compensation.”

The PUCL officials claimed that a delegation will meet Jharkhand home secretary Rajeev Aruna Ekka soon to pursue the issue of proper treatment and payment of compensation.