Maoists on Tuesday morning claimed responsibility for the May 25 attack in Chhattisgarh in which 27 people, including state Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel and veteran party leader Mahendra Karma were killed, according to letter and audio statement sent to this correspondent.

In a four-page letter and an audio clipping, the Maoists said the act was a revenge for “atrocities done by the Salwa Judum”.

(See letter and audio clip in Telugu attached at the end)

According to the statement, sent by spokesperson for Dandakaranya special zonal committee of CPI(Maoist) Gudsa Usendi, the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) detachment carried out the attack on the Congress convoy, returning from a rally. Usendi also alleged that both ruling BJP and opposition Congress in the state are equally responsible for “anti-people policies”.

"That is why senior functionaries of Congress were targetted," the note and the audio statement said.

Nand Kumar Patel, according to the letter, was suppressing people and it was during his tenure as minister that paramilitary forces were deployed in Bastar area. “Mahendra Karma and his family have been exploiting tribals for long. They were into land grabbing and committed atrocities on tribals," the statement said.

The Maoists regretted the killing of some “innocent” Congress functionaries.

Heavily armed Maoists ambushed a convoy of Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar district on Saturday, killing 27 people including Patel, Karma and former MLA Uday Mudliyar besides leaving 36 others injured, among them former union minister VC Shukla.
In the letter, the insurgents have made seven demands: withdrawal of paramilitary forces from Dandakaranya and an end to ‘Operation Green Hunt’, among them. They also sought an unconditional release of Maoists and "innocent" tribals arrested by the state.
Meanwhile in Delhi, minister of state for home RPN Singh has reportedly said, “Twenty-four are dead and they are trying to say they were targeting only a few people.”