The tragedy of Sudarshan Vetti

Sudarshan Vetti was 21 when he joined the Chhattisgarh Police’s District Reserve Guard (DRG), an anti-Maoist force that recruits entirely from tribal communities. The DRG has three components. One consists of the erstwhile members of Salwa Judum, a civil militia force, which the Supreme Court in 2011 declared illegal and unconstitutional and ordered its disbanding.  Many of its members were then absorbed in the DRG. The other consists of personnel inducted formally, while the third is a section of surrendered Maoists who are used mainly for intelligence purposes. In the last few years, the force has scored several victories against Maoists. But there also have been complaints of indiscipline. These stem from the fact that the recruits have very little (formal) training and also because many of them were earlier with the Salwa Judum, which was in many ways a rogue force.

In October last year, the DRG, along with the police’s Special Task Force, killed 31 Maoists along the Narayanpur-Dantewada border. In December, they managed to kill seven Maoists, including two senior leaders. From December 2023 till December 2024, according to a senior police officer, security forces in the state managed to kill 217 Maoists.

However, on January 6, the Maoists struck back. A party of the DRG, returning from an operation, was targeted with an improvised explosive device in Bijapur district, killing eight DRG personnel and their civilian driver. Vetti was among those who were killed; he had lasted for three years. Pictures shot by local journalists showed that some personnel had their bodies blown off; parts of the targeted vehicle had landed over a tree nearby.

A day later, Vetti was cremated by his grief-stricken family. He leaves behind his wife and a two-month-old son, who live in a kuccha house in Dantewada’s Gumalnar village.

In many ways, Vetti’s death reflects the irony of the fight between Maoists and security forces. Both sides, it is predominantly the Adivasi who gets killed, as is the case with Vetti. Even among the guerrillas killed by the DRG, barring a senior leader every now and then, most of those who die are Adivasis.

On the day Vetti and other fallen personnel were put to rest, a bunch of their colleagues were seen marching in what appears to be police lines shouting slogans saying that “revenge” for their “martyred” comrades will be extracted. This is where it becomes problematic. The senior police brass should have never allowed such a public display of emotions. Imagine what would have happened had a bunch of CRPF soldiers marched down localities near the site of the 2019 Pulwama suicide attack in Kashmir Valley, asking for revenge. Such open display leaves space for doubt that in encounters with Maoists in near future, the DRG may take short cuts, leading to loss of innocent lives.

What also seems to be playing is the Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s public declaration of deadline to eradicate Naxalism completely by March 2026. This puts extra pressure on security forces, especially the state police. Such shortcuts must be discouraged as these are highly impractical and put security personnel and civilians under undue danger. Deadlines look good with civil projects like the construction of a bridge or a new speedy train. In Bastar, we must fight Naxalism. In any case, in the entire region, the Maoists have been on a back foot for a long time. But the security forces and politicians must keep unnecessary bravado in check and exercise caution. This is because in Bastar it is not a matter of an ordinary deadline but a question of precious lives.

Also Read: IED blast in Chhattisgarh shows Maoists can still cause damage

ChhattisgarhDRGInternal securityMaoistNarayanpur-Dantewada borderSudarshan VettiWeb Exclusive