Ten Maoists sentenced to death in Jhiram Ghati case (Img: X)
Raipur: A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh, on Wednesday sentenced 10 Maoists to death for their role in the 2013 Jhiram Ghati attack, one of the deadliest assaults on a political convoy in the state.
The court had convicted the 10 accused earlier this month in connection with the attack, in which armed cadres of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) ambushed a Congress convoy in Bastar on May 25, 2013. The attack killed 27 people, including several senior Congress leaders, and left 38 others injured.
NIA judge Ajay Singh Rajput convicted the accused under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The death penalty was imposed for criminal conspiracy under Section 120B and murder under Section 302 of the IPC.
The 10 convicts are Pramila Modiyam, Chaitu Lekam alias Munna, Sumita alias Punem Modiyam, Mukka Mandvi, Kosa Kavasi alias Kosaram, Aayata Markam, Madkami Deva, Joga Madkami, Banjami Sanna alias Chamru and Mahadev Nag. One of the 11 arrested accused died during the trial, while 28 other accused named in the chargesheet remain wanted.
Among those listed as wanted are senior Maoist leaders Thippiri Tirupathi alias Devuji, a CPI (Maoist) politburo member who surrendered in Telangana in February this year; Barse Deva, who succeeded Madvi Hidma as commander of PLGA Battalion 1 and surrendered in January; and Ganesh Uikey, a CPI (Maoist) central committee member who was killed in a December 2025 encounter in Odisha.
The Jhiram Ghati attack took place when more than 150 Maoists ambushed a Congress Parivartan Rally convoy. Among those killed were Mahendra Karma, who was instrumental in founding the anti-Maoist militia Salwa Judum, state Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel and his son Dinesh, and senior party leader and former MLA Uday Mudliyar.
Investigators said Karma was the primary target of the attack, which took place near the border of Bastar and Sukma districts. According to the NIA chargesheet, the attack was planned as part of the CPI (Maoist)'s Tactical Counter Offensive Campaign (TCOC), with commanders holding meetings in early 2013 to identify and target “class enemies”, including Karma.
The Maoists reportedly triggered a landmine beneath a red Bolero, creating a crater around five feet deep and blocking the road with a stalled truck. They then positioned themselves on surrounding hilltops and opened fire and hurled grenades at the trapped 20-vehicle convoy for nearly two hours.
The 27 people killed in the attack included 10 security personnel. Police records also show that weapons and ammunition, including AK-47 rifles, a 9 mm pistol, hand grenades and communication equipment, were looted during the assault.
The NIA took over the investigation two days after the attack and filed its first chargesheet against nine arrested accused on September 25, 2014. A supplementary chargesheet against another 30 accused was filed on September 28, 2015.
The trial continued for more than a decade and involved at least 294 hearings. After final arguments were completed this month, the court delivered its conviction earlier in September and pronounced the punishment on Wednesday.
