Survivor recounts horror and death
TNN | Jul 11, 2016, 06.30 AM IST
Berhampur: Thirty-year-old Ruben thought a cyclone had hit the area when a barrage of bullets went past him killing five persons and injuring seven at Gumudumaha village under Kandhamal district's Baliguda police limits on Friday night.
"The bullets were coming from one side of the road, probably from the jawans. The persons, who were on the left side of the auto, they were travelling in, died or injured, while those on the other side of the auto survived," recalled Ruben, who had a close shave. Ruben escaped as he suddenly hid in a gorge on the roadside "When I emerged bullets had fallen silent. I saw bloodstains on the spot while the security forces were collecting the khokas (used bullets)," he said.
The scene was like a battlezone, when the bodies of four persons were lain on the road, while others were crying after suffering bullet injuries, he said, who lost his elder brother in the incident. His elder brother Kukala Digal, who was a former naib sarapanch, died on the spot.
When the news spread, the villagers rushed to the spot and rescued the injured persons, he said.
"Since it was raining, we thought, the sound might be of thunderbolt," said Nazira Digal, who was in the village at the time of the incident. The village was just half-a-km from the spot.
Ruben said 15 persons (except three children) were in the auto, which was coming from Baliguda to their village Gumudumaha. Owner of the auto is Johan Majhi belonging to a border village in Kalahandi district. The auto driver sustained minor injuries, he added.
The passengers had got down from the auto, when the vehicle slipped on the road, constructed newly, due to the rain. "We pushed the auto to start it again. Suddenly a bullet hit one of the wheels. We though the auto might burst. All of sudden it was raining bullets," Ruben added.
Even though police claimed the auto caught in the crossfire between the security forces and the Maoists, Ruben said they did not see any ultra during the period. Red rebels hardly come to the village, he said.
"The bullets were coming from one side of the road, probably from the jawans. The persons, who were on the left side of the auto, they were travelling in, died or injured, while those on the other side of the auto survived," recalled Ruben, who had a close shave. Ruben escaped as he suddenly hid in a gorge on the roadside "When I emerged bullets had fallen silent. I saw bloodstains on the spot while the security forces were collecting the khokas (used bullets)," he said.
The scene was like a battlezone, when the bodies of four persons were lain on the road, while others were crying after suffering bullet injuries, he said, who lost his elder brother in the incident. His elder brother Kukala Digal, who was a former naib sarapanch, died on the spot.
When the news spread, the villagers rushed to the spot and rescued the injured persons, he said.
"Since it was raining, we thought, the sound might be of thunderbolt," said Nazira Digal, who was in the village at the time of the incident. The village was just half-a-km from the spot.
Ruben said 15 persons (except three children) were in the auto, which was coming from Baliguda to their village Gumudumaha. Owner of the auto is Johan Majhi belonging to a border village in Kalahandi district. The auto driver sustained minor injuries, he added.
The passengers had got down from the auto, when the vehicle slipped on the road, constructed newly, due to the rain. "We pushed the auto to start it again. Suddenly a bullet hit one of the wheels. We though the auto might burst. All of sudden it was raining bullets," Ruben added.
Even though police claimed the auto caught in the crossfire between the security forces and the Maoists, Ruben said they did not see any ultra during the period. Red rebels hardly come to the village, he said.
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