The Congress has demanded immediate removal of the nodal officer appointed by Chhattisgarh government to assist National Investigation Agency probing the Darbha valley Maoist attack in which senior Congress leaders were killed on May 25.
Launching an attack on Chhattisgarh government, Union Minister and acting president of the state Congress Charan Das Mahant said on Friday that "the nodal officer is not only disturbing the NIA team, but also trying to influence the probe and hide facts. The officer should be immediately removed from the charge".
He accused the Chhattisgarh government of trying to derail the probe to prevent the truth about the alleged political conspiracy behind the Maoist attack on the Congress leaders' convoy from coming out in the open.
Mahant alleged the same officer, who denied security cover to the Congress 'parivartan yatra', avoided giving information about movement of Maoist insurgents in Jiram Valley and also ensured that security was not with the Congress convoy at Darbha on May 25, as been appointed as the nodal officer to help the NIA probe.
"The same official is using his discretionary rights to influence the probe. The same officer is also facing charges of being responsible for the death of a senior police official in a Maoist attack at Madanwada in Rajnandgaon district, into which a probe is still pending," he said.
Twenty nine Congressmen, including Pradesh Congress Committee president Nandkumar Patel, Mahendra Karma, Uday Mudliyar, former union minister V C Shukla, were killed and 35 people injured when Maoists had ambushed their convoy in Jiram valley of Darbha region in Bastar on May 25.