Raghu Midiyami, former president of the Moolwasi Bachao Manch, was arrested by the Dantewada Police on February 27. He was later taken into custody by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with a terror funding case linked to FIR RC-02/2023/NIA/RPR dated August 24, 2023, registered in Raipur.
This correspondent accessed the FIR, which cites charges under Sections 8(1), 8(3), and 8(5) of the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, 2005, as well as Sections 10 and 13(1) & (2) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
In a press statement, the agency stated that the arrest was made under an FIR registered by the Chhattisgarh Government in 2023, which was later taken over by the NIA in February 2024. According to the statement, two individuals had been arrested and chargesheeted in November 2023, with the agency alleging that they were Over Ground Workers (OGWs) of the Moolwasi Bachao Manch. The statement also mentioned the recovery of ₹6 lakh in cash from them. However, the FIR did not name Raghu Midiyami.
Furthermore, the statement said that Raghu Midiyami was the nodal person responsible for the distribution of the funds at the local level for staging and sustaining CPI (Maoist) led protests.
Raghu Midiyami’s arrest followed the banning of the Moolwasi Bachao Manch on October 30, 2024, by the Chhattisgarh Home Ministry. In a circular, the ministry alleged that the organization was opposing “development” and military camps in the region. The ban was imposed under Section 3 of the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, 2005 (CSPSA).
Raghu, 23, was the president of the organization. In a conversation with this correspondent in November 2024, he had condemned the ban on the Moolwasi Bachao Manch, stating, “This ban is illegal. MBM is an open, democratic organization of Adivasis fighting to protect our ‘Jal, Jangal, Jameen’ against the development that costs our lives.”
The Moolwasi Bachao Manch was an umbrella organization formed by Adivasi peasants to demand the implementation of the Panchayat (Extension to scheduled areas) Act, 1996 and the Fifth Schedule, an end to mining activities and displacement, the cessation of “mass killings by security forces, and the rampant militarization of Bastar”.
The state government’s order banning the Moolwasi Bachao Manch does not mention any links to the CPI (Maoist), instead labeling it an “anti-development” organization. However, in its statement, the NIA has linked the group to the Maoist party.
Professor Nandini Sundar, sociologist and human rights activist, condemned the arrest in a tweet on February 27, stating, “Raghu’s crime was peacefully organizing protests for Adivasi constitutional rights, against the takeover of village lands by security camps and roads, asking for PESA. This arrest must be strongly condemned.”
“Manufacturing Consent for Corporate Loot”
Raghu Midiyami’s arrest is not an isolated case. On June 3, 2024, Suneeta Pottam, a young Adivasi activist and one of the founding leaders of the Moolwasi Bachao Manch, was picked up by the police from a room rented by a women’s collective in central Raipur.
“The human rights activist was pursuing high school through open schooling and was staying there to prepare for an entrance test,” the People’s Union for Civil Liberties said in a statement.
The Moolwasi Bachao Manch gained national attention in 2021 for leading mass protests against the establishment of police camps in Silger, citing violations of the PESA Act, 1996, and the absence of Gram Sabha consent. The protests intensified after CRPF personnel opened fire on May 17, 2021, killing four Adivasi villagers, including a pregnant woman.
Sarju Tekam, another member of the organization, remains in jail after being arrested under the UAPA and CSPSA, 2005 on April 2, 2024. In 2021, he had led protests against the “illegal construction” of security camps and mining in Bastar. The protest, held under the banner of Adivasi Samaj Badgaon, saw Sarju declare, “We’re struggling for freedom even after independence. Whether we fight or not, we die either way.”
On November 8, 2024, six MBM members—Arjun Soni, Muya Hemla, Nagesh Banse, Joga Midiyam, Gillu Katam, and Bhima Kunjam—were also arrested and jailed.
Following the ban on the Moolwasi Bachao Manch, the police crackdown intensified, leading to the arrests of several Adivasis, who have been demanding the implementation of PESA. On November 21, the police arrested 5 Adivasis, members of the Moolwasi Bachao Manch, from a protest site in Tadmetla.
The Moolwasi Bachao Manch, in a statement, said that Chintalnar police arrested Madkam Ramesh, Rawa Joga, Bogam Rama, and two others, also seizing their staples, including rice and vegetables. The protest demands an investigation into fake encounters of Adivasis by security forces, they said. However, the police labeled the arrested individuals as Maoists to justify their detention, the statement said.
Member of Parliament from Rashtriya Janata Dal, Manoj Jha, had criticized the banning of MBM in the Parliament earlier in November.
The Human rights interventions in Bastar have been revealing how state machinery in collusion with the corporates have been attempting to facilitate the mining in the resource-rich lands of the Adivasis throughout the central and eastern Indian states. For this, manufacturing consent for the mining has been initiated with intensified repression.
Soni Sori, a prominent tribal activist, warned of the threats to Raghu’s life, who was at the forefront of the movement against corporate loot and militarization in Bastar. “His arrest is illegal”, she said.
A local journalist from Bastar, on the condition of anonymity, said that for the last six months, hundreds of arrests have taken place with no knowledge about the current state of those arrested. There are several protest sites in Bastar, where indefinite sit-ins have been going on for years, demanding implementation of the PESA, 1996, Forests Rights Act, 2006, end to militarization, fake encounter killings and protection of several other Adivasi rights.
The Journalist said that “police had been chasing, almost like hunting those who participated in the peaceful protests. They torture them in Custody, kill them in fake encounters, but no investigation or revelation comes out regarding it”.
This has become a norm, she said. “What they do is abduct people, make them surrender forcibly, beat them and chase them to knock down the protest sites. They’ve been arresting Adivasis, implicating them in false cases, and attempting to crush their movements. They now have a well-worn strategy to facilitate mining under the pretext of combating naxalism”.
It is pertinent to note that MBM had been leading almost 40 sit-ins across Bastar, with several other Adivasi organisations leading protests across the Bastar division. In some protests, like Silger, as many as one lakh Adivasis have participated. This reveals how under the pretext of eradicating maoism, the Government has failed to acknowledge the concerns of Adivasis, who have been targeted for demanding their due rights and protecting their customary livelihood and “Jal, Jangal, Jameen”.
Recently, on February 15, police targeted Adivasis at Madhonar Village Panchayat in the Narayanpur district. The Madhonar Jan Andolan, an indefinite sit-in since January 12, 2023, protests to protect water, land, and forests from mining projects and security camps.
According to Madhonar Jan Andolan’s statement, the police burned down the protest site, including banners commemorating Bhumkal Martyrs’ Day and printed banners displaying the Constitution, FRA, PESA, and the Fifth Schedule. Their food and forest produce were also reduced to ashes. This was the fourth such attack on the dharna in two years, aimed at crushing their peaceful protest for constitutional rights.
On February 26, Narayanpur police arrested over 40 Adivasis from Toyameta village in Modhonar Panchayat. According to the Adivasi Adhikar Bachao Manch, they were beaten, including six women, before being taken to Kadiyameta Police Camp. A Bastar-based source told this reporter that while most were released, 15 people from different villages remain in custody, with no information on their whereabouts.
“Without the consent of the Gram Sabha, the state government is trying to open new police camps in Madhonar Panchayat and widen roads from Chottedonger to Kawanar Toyameta,” read a statement by the Madhonar Jan Andolan. While Gram Sabha consent is mandatory for land protected under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution, it has been almost entirely disregarded.
“Annihilating Adivasis under the Guise of Eradicating Naxalism”
The union government’s pressing invocation on the eradication of Maoists by March, 2026 is seen behind the strategy to hand over Adivasi lands to the mining giants. In August 2024, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that Maoism would end in the country by March 31, 2026.
According to a report by Citizens for Peace and Justice, more than 200 security camps have proliferated in Bastar, intended for area domination and to provide “carpet security” to the mining industry, which are all constructed in encroached lands of tribals. In some areas, camps are sited every 3–4 kilometers with a civilian-to-security personnel ratio of approximately 9:1, making Bastar one of the world’s most militarized regions.
In 2024, 217 suspected Maoists were killed by security forces across the country. This year, at least 75 people have been killed by security forces in central and eastern Indian states, which the Government claims were Maoists killed in gunfights. However, the reality on the ground tells a different story.
Beginning on January 1, 2024, the spate of killings persisted in Chhattisgarh and its neighbouring states under Operation Kagaar, called the “final mission” against the Maoists. Several of these cases, however, have revealed a pattern of staged encounters, as per human rights bodies.
On January 1, Mangli Sodi, a 6-month-old infant, was killed by District Reserve Guards (DRG) in the Mutuvendi Village of the Bijapur district as her mother, Massi Vade, was breastfeeding her.
A fact-finding report by PUCL revealed that between January and May 2024, a series of violent incidents unfolded in Chhattisgarh, resulting in the deaths of numerous Adivasi civilians at the hands of security forces. On January 19, 2024, two teenage girls, Nagi Punem and Soni Madkam, along with a 40-year-old man, Kosa Karam, were killed on their way to a protest in Gorna village.
The report includes witnesses reporting indiscriminate firing and assaults on minors. On January 27, farmer Podiya Mandavi from Pedka village died in police custody, his body bearing knife wounds indicative of torture. Subsequent operations led to further killings, including the alleged fake encounter of three villagers on February 25, who had left their homes to gather materials for the tendu leaf plucking season. On March 27, six individuals were killed in Chipurbatti and Pusbaka villages, with photographic evidence suggesting at least one victim was executed after being captured. The April 2 operation resulted in 13 deaths, including a deaf and mute girl, Kamli Kunjam, whose injuries suggested sexual assault. On May 11, twelve civilians in Pidiya village were killed during routine activities such as tendu leaf collection.
The violence continued later in the year, including two more Adivasi youth, 16-year-old Hidma Podiam and 20-year-old Joga Kunjam, killed on November 8 in Bijapur. Local reports challenged the security forces’ claims, asserting that the victims were unarmed civilians.
In several cases, villagers and activists have accused the authorities of fabricating encounters, raising concerns about the state’s counterinsurgency tactics and their impact on Adivasi communities. On December 12, 8 people were killed, of which 6 were ordinary villagers 2 were unarmed Maoists. 4 children aged 7-17 were also injured in the attack by the security forces.
Soni Sori, who took the children to a hospital at the Bhairamgarh town, said that “Ramli Oyam, a 17 year old from whose neck a bullet was retrieved by the doctors, was later taken to the Jagdalpur by the security forces to conceal the information about the injury”. Other children included an 8-year-old boy, Sonu Oyam, who was struck by a stray bullet; Raju, whose ankle was fractured by a gunshot; and Chaitram, who was shot in the buttocks and thighs.
On January 19, a state-level convention was organized by Operation Green-hunt Virodhi Jamhoori Front in Barnala, Punjab, and was attended by several human rights activists.
Speaking at the convention, Bastar-based lawyer and Activist Bela Bhatia stated that “the situation in Bastar is very dire, with encounters happening every other day, leaving activists unable to form a proper response to the onslaught”. Questioning the deadline of March 2026 for the eradication of Maoists set by the Union Home Minister Amit Shah, she asked, “how did they set this deadline?”. She suggested that the state’s timeline appears to set a precedent for transferring control of Bastar to corporate entities like Adani, potentially paving the way for the extraction of its rich mineral resources.
Although militarization has intensified, with the latest tally reaching more than 75 killings in 2025 alone, the claims made by the authorities have been criticised by human rights activists, with strategic killings staged as gunfights.
In its statement on January 1, 2025, Forum against corporatization and militarization (FACAM) condemned the Operation Kagaar, stating that “the all round attack on adivasi peasants can be summed up as state-corporate nexus saying that “You will be displaced, your house (Jal-Jungle-Jameen) will be destroyed to satisfy our greed, if you resist, you will be killed or jailed regardless if you are resisting through armed or unarmed means. If you raise your voice for being killed you’ll be jailed, if you are a women, you will be raped. And despite all these, if you still don’t break, we will rain bombs from the sky and the country will remain silent because of consent manufactured through corporate media”.
Several human rights groups condemned Raghu’s arrest, calling it an attempt to clear obstacles for mining. In a statement condemning the arrest of Raghu, FACAM stated that “it is pertinent to mention that Raghu is not a named accused in the FIR and has been frivolously roped in more than 1 year later after the filing of the bogus FIR. He has had a serious motorcycle accident a week ago and is in a bad medical condition, which makes this sudden and unwarranted arrest even more troublesome”.
Ehtmam ul Haque, a member of FACAM, told The Observer post that “Raghu’s arrest, though unsurprising, is disheartening—a concerted attack on Adivasi peasants asserting their rights over Jal-Jungle-Jameen. Young leaders like Raghu and Suneeta, who left their studies to resist corporatization and militarization, embody commitment. Aware of the cost, they pushed on despite threats, massacres, and mass arrests of Adivasis throughout the last year and now”.
Syed Affan is a writer and Independent Journalist based in Delhi. His reportage focuses on Human rights, policy, land conflicts.
