Jamshedpur: Relatives refuse to accept body of Naxalite Reela Majhiyain

None should tread the path of extremism: Slain Naxalite Kali Munda’s father

Mail News Service

Seraikela, Sept 5:  Sonu Pahan, the aged father of slain Naxalite Kali Munda said, “Kali had left home 15 years ago and had been traceless since then. We were unaware that he had become an extremist. No one should tread the path of violence, of extremism.”

On September 2, 30-year-old Kali Munda, a resident of Kantradih village in Khunti district, was killed during an encounter between CPI Maoist militants and the police in the forest and hilly tracts near Baroda and Sargarha villages of Dalbhanga OP under Kuchai police station. When Kali’s father, Sonu Pahan had been taken to Saraikela Sadar Hospital to identify the slain extremist’s body, the senior person realized that his son had become a Naxalite. Kali Munda had left home 15 years ago and it was difficult to recognize the extremist after this long hiatus. When the police knocked on Sonu Pahan’s village door to take him to identify the body of Kali Munda did the father realize that his son had joined the band of extremists. Kali Munda, who left his studies in childhood, had two brothers and a sister. Kali was the eldest among his siblings. His younger brother, Panda Pahan and the youngest one are working as labourers to earn livings for their family. Kali’s father Sonu Pahan was accompanied by his cousin, Mahadev Munda and brother-in-law Paul Topno to the Saraikela Sadar Hospital to identify and collect Kali Munda’s body. Kali’s aged father, Sonu Pahan too id working as a labourer in agriculture fields to contribute to the family coffers. Sonu, in an emotional message, said, “No one’s son should take to the path of crime that extremism is.” Police forces led by Saraikela police station In-charge, Manohar Kumar took Kali Munda’s body to his native village home in Kantradih under tight security.

The family members of the other slain extremist, Reela Majhiyain refused to accept her body. Reela too was killed in the police encounter along with Kali Munda.  Reportedly, when the family of Reela had refused to accept her body, the police were preparing to perform her last rites after ticking off all the procedural boxes. Reela Majhiyain was a resident of Chatrochatti in Giridih district.