Swami Agnivesh's assailant shot at by Maoists

Swami Agnivesh's assailant shot at by Maoists (WHAT WILL Swami SAY NOW ?

By Indo Asian News Service

Raipur, April 28 (IANS) Three Maoists Thursday shot at and seriously injured a Salwa Judum militia leader, who was also accused of leading an assault on social activist Swami Agnivesh during his visit last month, in Chhattisgarh's violence-hit Bastar region Thursday, police said.

'Three armed Maoists clad in school uniform opened fire in a full public view in Konta block at Vijay Kumar,' Additional Director General of Police Giridhari Nayak told IANS.

The attack site is located in Dantewada district, about 500 km south of Raipur.

Nayak added that Vijay, a teacher by profession, was hit by at least two bullets at close range and was rushed to a hospital at Bhadrachalam in Andhra Pradesh, barely 40 km from the attack site. Vijay was reported to be critical when the last report came in around 10 p.m. Thursday.

Top official sources said that Maoists were desperately looking to kill Vijay after he was named in a police report for leading a group that assaulted Swami Agnivesh when he was on way to Tarmetla where policemen were accused by poor villagers of burning down their nearly 300 huts besides raping and torturing a few women in a rampage that went on for several days.

The protesters whom Agnivesh termed a bunch of Salwa Judum cadres and policemen, manhandled Agnivesh, removed his turban and threw eggs at him and forced him to return back without making on the spot visit to Tarmetla and two other nearby hamlets.