Human rights groups like PUCL Chhattisgarh and others have expressed outrage that a complaint by the former MLA and leader of the Bastariya Raj Morcha, Manish Kunjam seeking investigation into the irregularities of distribution of tendu patta bonus amounting to crores of rupees, has instead of a probe, resulted in a raid at his premises in Sukma by the Chhattisgarh police.
On the morning of April 11, a large posse of 10-13 officials from the ACB-EOW of the State Police in Raipur raided three premises connected with the veteran Adivasi leader and ex-MLA from Konta, Manish Kunjam, including his houses in the district headquarters of Sukma and in his native village of Ramaram. After rummaging through all these locations, and turning them inside out, the team did not find any incriminating material, it is reported. However, according to a statement issued by PUCL, Chhattisgarh states that the law enforcement authorities still confiscated two mobile phones and a daily diary of the former MLA. This was apparently part of an inquiry into the tendu patta scam and the premises of 7 managers of different primary minor forest produce (MFP) cooperative societies in Sukma were also raided.
Manish Kunjam, who was elected as member to the legislative assembly (MLA) from the Konta constituency from 1990 to 1998, is also seen to be s been a fearless and outspoken critic of the present and previous regimes, and has also led the movement against the government-sponsored militia Salwa Judum, which was eventually banned by the Supreme Court. Kunjam also led the movement against the proposed Tata Steel Plant in Lohandiguda, which forced the company to withdraw its plans; and has led many other popular movements for the right of Adivasis to their land and resources. After spending decades being associated with the CPI and leading the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Mahasabha, he left it last year and has founded a new party, the Bastariya Raj Morcha, which won two crucial district panchayat seats in the recent Panchayat elections in Chhattisgarh. The support of the Bastariya Raj Morcha to the Congress Party candidate for the post of the President of the Zila Panchayat ensured that Sukma became the only district in Chhattisgarh, where the BJP was unable to appoint its candidate as the District Panchayat President.
On January 8, 2025, Manish Kunjam had sought an investigation into the distribution of tendu patta bonus in Sukma district, alleging that at Rs. 3.6 crores of tendu patta bonus had been embezzled by officials of the forest department.
As is well known, tendu patta collection is a crucial source of income for the Adivasis of Bastar, and thousands of families are engaged in it during the summer months. It is often referred to as “green gold” in tribal areas. The individual collectors sell the tendu patta to the government primary forest produce cooperative societies, which are supervised by the local Forest Department. In 2021, 15 such societies and in 2022, 10 such societies in Sukma bought tendu patta from roughly 90,000 individual tendu patta collectors. Consequently, Rs 6.54 crores was to be distributed in April – May 2024 as bonus to these collectors for the two years 2021 and 2022. Since not all the individual collectors had bank accounts, special permission was taken for distribution of Rs. 3.62 crores of this bonus in cash.
In his letter to the Collector of Sukma on 08.01.2025, Manish Kunjam had alleged that the amount that was to be distributed cash, Rs. 3.62 crores, has in fact been embezzled by the forest department officials and none of the individual collectors have received this bonus payment. The Divisional Forest Officer of Sukma, Ashok Patel, has already been suspended as a result of this enquiry and it is learned that many of the managers of the co-operative societies have confessed to paying off the DFO with this money. Thus, it is all the more incomprehensible why the Chhattisgarh Police will now raid the complainant, who is seeking investigation into this scam. It certainly appears that the raid this morning has less to do with investigating the tendu patta bonus scam, and more to do with harassment and persecution of Mr. Kunjam, who is well-known as a fearless and outspoken leader.
The confiscation of the mobile phones of Manish Kunjam, states the PUCL statement, is also a matter of grave concern, and is part of this growing trend of the police and related agencies seizing electronic devices at the smallest pretext, illegally violating the privacy of individuals and prying into all their messages and communications, and sometimes even implicating them falsely by adding incriminating material on these devices. There is no cogent explanation why the phones of Mr. Kunjam are of interest in this investigation, and in fact, their seizure appears to be the sole motive for this raid in the first place. These seizures are completely illegal, as no hash values were provided to Manish Kunjam, and thus, it cannot be ensured that the phones will not be tampered with by the police authorities. These seizures also violate the CBI guidelines of seizure of electronic devices which are required to be followed by all investigating agencies, following the interim order of the Supreme Court dated 14.12.2023 in Ram Ramaswamy vs. Union of India (WPC 138/2021).
Related:
Appeal to Political Parties, Visit Bastar, Initiate a Dialogue, Restore Fundamental Rights