Congress leader and former Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister T.S. Singh Deo on Wednesday, 16 September 2026, claimed that not a single security personnel was deployed on the route taken by party leaders on the day of the 2013 Jhiram Ghati Maoist attack in Sukma, Chhattisgarh. His remarks came a day after an NIA special court in Jagdalpur sentenced 10 convicts to death for their role in the massacre.

The Verdict That Reignited Memories

The Jhiram Ghati massacre of 25 May 2013 left 29 people dead when Maoists ambushed a Congress party convoy in the forested corridors of Sukma district. Among the dead were senior Congress leaders, making it one of the deadliest targeted political attacks in independent India. The NIA special court's death sentence for 10 convicts has brought the tragedy back into sharp public focus, prompting fresh scrutiny of the security arrangements — or the alleged absence of them — on that day.

What Singh Deo Claimed

Speaking to reporters in Ambikapur, Singh Deo, who was in charge of the Congress party's programme at the time, made a pointed allegation about a sudden and inexplicable withdrawal of security. 'I had made written arrangements — communicating with offices ranging from that of the DGP to the IGs and others — regarding the five- or six-day event,' he said. He recalled that for the first two days of the programme — held in Bijapur and Jagdalpur — security was comprehensive and without a single lapse.

'On the first day of the event in Bijapur and even on the second day in Jagdalpur, there wasn't a single lapse — not even the slightest shortcoming that one could imagine,' he stated. The situation, he alleged, changed drastically on the third day.

The Third Day: A Road Left Unguarded

Singh Deo recounted departing half an hour early for the programme in Sukma — a programme presided over by late Congress president Nand Kumar Patel. 'I noticed that there wasn't a single person on the road; no police personnel were deployed… There was no one stopping us, nor were there any other people visible on the road,' he claimed. He further alleged that at Vakavanghati, near a police camp, there was 'not a single officer deployed.'

After the programme concluded in Sukma, Singh Deo said he took leave of Nand Kumar Patel to proceed to the next scheduled event. 'Still, there was not a single security personnel deployed,' he asserted. Nand Kumar Patel was among those killed in the subsequent attack.

Questions of Accountability

Singh Deo's account raises pointed questions about the chain of command on that day. 'The same system that provided us security for the first two days of the scheduled programme, giving us a sense of security, suddenly failed to do so on the third day, and then this tragedy took place,' he said. He stopped short of directly attributing blame to any individual, noting that the question of which other Maoists were involved 'is a completely separate issue' and 'a matter of investigation.'

On the death penalty awarded by the NIA court, he said: 'There is no greater punishment than the death penalty.' Notably, this is the first major judicial conclusion in the over-decade-long legal process following the attack.

What Comes Next

The sentencing of 10 convicts is likely to be challenged at the Chhattisgarh High Court, as is standard procedure in capital punishment cases, which require confirmation by a higher court. Singh Deo's fresh claims about the absence of security cover may also renew political pressure for a deeper inquiry into the administrative failures on 25 May 2013. The case has long carried political overtones in Chhattisgarh, and the renewed scrutiny comes at a sensitive juncture in the state's political landscape.