A man killed in a recent anti-Naxal operation in Madhya Pradesh's Mandla district was a tribal and not a Maoist, an official has said.
The opposition Congress claimed the man was innocent and demanded a high-level probe and a judicial inquiry into the incident.
The man, Hiran Singh Partha (38), belonged to the Baiga community, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group, said officials.
The encounter took place on March 9 and his identity was ascertained on March 13, a senior official said on Saturday.
Partha was accompanying Naxalites deep inside a jungle in Khatiya area of the district, Balaghat Zone Inspector General (IG) of Police Sanjay Kumar told PTI when asked more about his identification.
"How come he was with the Maoists? This is a matter of investigation. Often, Naxalites move with tribals. We can speak about his association (with Naxalites) only after investigation," Kumar said.
"We don't have any records that he was a Maoist. For now, he is a resident of Lasara Tola village," the senior police official said.
After the encounter, two men having links with Maoists were arrested, he said.
Meanwhile, Congress MLA Narayan Singh Patta, who represents Bichhiya constituency in the tribal-dominated Mandla district, said he visited Partha's village on Saturday and met his children and other residents.
"I was there from 10.30 am till 1 pm but could not meet Partha's wife. The police did not allow her to meet me. I was told she was in the police station," the tribal legislator said.
The deceased was the father of five kids. He was an innocent man and had even worked under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, Patta claimed.
"Partha might not have known who Maoists were. I have learnt that he used to go deep into the jungle to collect forest product and catch parrots," the Congress leader said, demanding a high-level probe and a judicial inquiry into the incident. -- PTI
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