Days after a school teacher was killed by the Naxals in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district, the rebels have issued a letter calling it a mistake, the police claimed Thursday.
Yogendra Meshram was killed because he was suspected to be apoliceman but he was “innocent”, the purported letter said.
Meshram, teacher at a municipal school at Korchi, was shotdead by Naxals at Kombda Bajar on March 12.
Local people had protested the killing vehemently, saidShailesh Balkawade, District Superintendent of Police,
‘Pawan’, who is a divisional commander of the bannedCommunist Party of India (Maoist), issued an apology letter which wascirculated Wednesday, he said.
The letter, addressed to Meshram’s family, said Maoistskilled him as he was wrongly thought to be a policeman due to “intelligencefailure”, the SP said.
Maoists apologised to the family for the killing, the letteradded.
Balkawade said the police were gaining the upper handagainst the Maoists. The rebels were under pressure and therefore targetinginnocent persons, he said.
On March 8, over 12,000 women took part in an anti-Naxal rally in the district, he claimed.