2 min readRaipurMar 25, 2026 12:34 PM IST
Over three decades after a tribal man was killed in a fake encounter in Chhattisgarh, his family could finally get the compensation they have long sought. A recent order of the Chhattisgarh High Court has directed the district collector to decide on their application within 45 days.
The incident dates to March 26, 1992, when Ramnath Nagvanshi was gunned down by a policeman and his team from Kansabel police station in Dengur Jor village of Jashpur district, on suspicion of being a Maoist. The police later concluded that Nagvanshi was not a Maoist and, in 2002, six personnel were convicted of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
This year, the victim’s wife, Sanjho Bai, approached the high court seeking Rs 1 crore in compensation, claiming all other avenues of redress had failed. After hearing the petition, Justice Naresh Kumar Chandravanshi asked the Jashpur Collector to decide the application within 45 days.
When contacted, Jashpur Collector Rohit Vyas told The Indian Express that the administration would write to the state government to seek clarity on the compensation to be provided to the victim’s family.
Recounting the day of the killing, his 62-year-old brother Rimnath, a local Communist Party of India (CPI) leader, said Nagvanshi died trying to help him.
“A day before his murder, there was a CPI meeting in our village. Some others and I were arrested, and my elder brother Ramnath and some relatives were trying to get us some food and clothes before we were taken to jail. At that time, the police shoved them away and a scuffle ensued. The police then opened fire, killing my brother,” he said.
Rimnath alleged that the family was asked to withdraw the case but they declined.
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“After Ramnath’s death we faced a lot of troubles. He had three sons, of whom two died. His third son dropped out of school and now works as a labourer. His wife is a labourer too. We spent lakhs of rupees to fight the case and even sold two acres of land and are still to pay our loan. He was our guardian,” he said.
