Chhattisgarh: Guest teacher killed by suspected Naxals amid rising attacks on shiksha doots
In a shocking turn of events, a temporary guest teacher, identified as Kallu Tati, was brutally murdered by unidentified assailants with sharp-edged weapons in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh, police officials confirmed on Saturday.
The incident occurred in the village of Todka, located under the Gangloor police station area. Tati, 25, was working as a Shiksha Doot (education volunteer) at a local school in the nearby village of Lendra. While no naxals pamphlets or written materials were recovered from the crime scene, local police suspect that Naxals might be responsible for the killing.
A team of security personnel was quickly dispatched to the area following the attack, and a manhunt has been launched to apprehend the perpetrators.
Increasing targeting of Shiksha Doots in Bastar
Sources from the police suggest that Naxals in the Bastar region have been increasingly targeting Shiksha Doots-teachers recruited as part of the state’s initiative to bring education to remote and conflict-hit areas-on suspicion of their involvement with the police.
In the past three years alone, at least seven guest teachers have been killed across the Bastar division, which includes Bijapur, Sukma, Dantewada, and Narayanpur districts. Five of these killings have taken place in 2025.
This attack on Tati follows a series of similar incidents in recent months. On August 27, a guest teacher was killed in Sukma district, and just 12 days earlier, another teacher was murdered in Narayanpur. Additionally, two Shiksha Doots were killed last month in Bijapur’s Farsegarh area under similar suspicions of being police informers.
Earlier this year, on February 19, a teacher and a villager were murdered in Dantewada, allegedly for the same reason.
Rising violence in Bastar region
The Bastar region continues to be a flashpoint of Maoist insurgency in Chhattisgarh. Police records show that more than 30 people have lost their lives in naxal-related violence in Bastar so far this year. Security forces have escalated anti-insurgency operations in the area, pushing deeper into Naxal strongholds, and this has led to an increase in retaliatory attacks.
Official figures indicate a disturbing trend in civilian casualties. A total of 24 civilians have been killed in naxal-related violence in 2025, a significant rise compared to 71 deaths recorded throughout 2024. Local security officials attribute the uptick in violence to the intensified operations aimed at eradicating naxal influence in the region.
Maoists are suspected to be retaliating by targeting civilians they believe are supporting the government or its security forces. These civilians include police informers, government employees, and education workers like Tati, who are seen as collaborators in the state’s effort to rehabilitate and develop Naxal-affected regions.
Shiksha Doot scheme under threat
The Shiksha Doot scheme, which aims to reopen closed schools in conflict-hit areas of Bastar, has come under increasing threat. Many of these volunteers, tasked with bringing education back to villages, have been accused of being informants or allies of the police. The ongoing attacks on these teachers indicate that naxals view them as a symbol of government authority in areas they consider their stronghold.
Notably, just weeks before Tati’s murder, six people-including two students-were killed in Bijapur, allegedly for their links to the police. These killings are part of an alarming rise in civilian deaths linked to the Naxal insurgency in the region.
Security forces remain on high alert
Despite the tragic loss, police and security forces remain committed to their operations to curb the Maoist influence in the area. A senior police officer stated that efforts to track down the culprits responsible for the murder of Kallu Tati are already underway.
