Chhattisgarh

Raipur, Nov 11 (PTI) Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has ordered a probe by a three-member committee into the illegal surveillance of some individuals in the state through WhatsApp using an Israeli-made spyware, officials said on Monday.

Baghel has also asked the committee to investigate complaints that the Israeli company NSO, which developed spyware Pegasus used to snoop on people, made a presentation of the software before state police officials two-three years back, they said.

Sukma, Nov 11 (PTI) A man was beaten to death by Naxals in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district after they accused him of being a police informer, an official said on Monday.

The body of Sudam Hunga, a native of Kamapura village, was found on Monday morning on the outskirts of Jagargunda village and a leaflet left on the spot by Naxals claimed he was killed for being a police informer, the official said.

"He was abducted some days ago and it seems he was beaten to death. We have launched a combing operation to nab the culprits," he added.

Balodabazar, Nov 8 (PTI) Seven government school teachers were arrested for allegedly molesting two Class 9 students in Chhattisgarh's Balodabazar district, police said on Friday.

The Kasdol police on Thursday arrested Devendra Khunte (38), Rameshwar Prasad Sahu (44), Rupnarayan Sahu (36), Mahesh Kumar Verma (37), Dinesh Kumar Sahu (38), Chadan Das Baghel (39) and Lalram Bervansh, all teachers at Government Higher Secondary School in Marda village, station house officer Kasdol Dinbandhu Uikey said.

Jagdalpur, Nov 6 (PTI) A 40-year-old man was injured on Wednesday after he accidentally stepped on an IED planted by naxals in Chhattisgarh's Bastar district, police said.

Prime facie, the ultras had planted the low-intensity explosive at the entrance of a dilapidated house belonging to Home Guard Hidmo Ram in Toynar village, a police official said.

Ram had shifted to Jagdalpur and no one stays in the house.

New Delhi, Nov 7 (PTI) A CRPF jawan was killed in an encounter with Naxals in Chhattisgarh on Thursday, officials said here.

The encounter took place in the Tonguda-Pamed area of Bijapur district at about 4 am, they said.

The jawan belonged to the 151st battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force and this team along with the commando unit of the force, CoBRA, and the state police was out for an operation in the jungles, the officials said.

Jagdalpur, Oct 24 (PTI) The ruling Congress won the Chitrakot Assembly bypoll in Chhattisgarh on Thursday, poll officials said.

Congress' Rajman Benzam won the bypoll from the naxal-affected constituency, reserved for Scheduled Tribes, by a margin of 17,862 votes against Lachhuram Kashyap of the BJP.

Benzam polled 62,097 votes while Kashyap secured 44,235 votes.

Raipur, Oct 15 (PTI) A Naxal was killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district on Tuesday, police said.

The skirmish took place around 9.30 am at a forest in Tulsi Dongri area when a team of the Special Task Force and District Reserve Groupwas out on a counter-insurgency exercise along the Chhattisgarh-Odisha border, Deputy Inspector General (anti-Naxal operation) Sundarraj P told PTI.

Korba, Oct 13 (PTI) Two men were arrested on Sunday in connection with the abduction and rape of a 19-year-old tribal woman in Koriya district of Chhattisgarh, police said.

According to police, the accused duo also allegedly tried to kill the victim by hanging her from a tree after the sexual assault by one of them, they said.

Bijapur, Oct 11 (PTI) A naxal was killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on Friday, the police said.

The skirmish took place in a forest near Tekmetla village under Usoor police station limits, a senior police official said.

A joint squad of 229th battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force and local police had launched an anti- naxal operation in the interiors of Usoor, about 450 km from state capital Raipur, he said.

Raipur, Oct 10 (PTI) Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Thursday said capitalism has acquired a new form which is defined by black money and big business, and strongly condemned the tendency of branding people who ask questions as "anti-nationals".

In a veiled attack on the BJP and the RSS, the Congress leader said Mahatma Gandhi's concept of nationalism was inclusive and serious, but "what we see today is provocative nationalism".