A special NIA court in Jagdalpur on Wednesday handed down the death penalty to all 10 convicts in the 2013 Jhiram Ghati Maoist attack case, in which 27 persons, including senior Congress leaders, were killed.On September 5, the court had found the 10 accused guilty and convicted them under various Sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, the IPC, the Arms Act and the Explosive Substances Act, while reserving its order on the quantum of punishment.The 10 convicts have been identified as Pramila Modiyam; Chaitu Lekam, alias Munna; Sumita, alias Punem Modiyam; Mukka Mandvi; Kosa Kavasi, alias Kosaram; Aayata Markam; Madkami Deva; Joga Madkami; Banjami Sanna, alias Chamru; and Mahadev Nag.Over 150 armed cadres of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) had ambushed a Congress convoy at Jhiram Ghati in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar district on May 25, 2013, killing 27 persons and almost wiping out the state party leadership. As many as 38 persons were injured in the incident.The attack took place as Congress leaders were returning after holding a “Parivartan Rally”. Among those killed were Mahendra Karma, who was instrumental in founding the banned anti-Maoist militia Salwa Judum; state Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel and his son Dinesh; and senior party leader and former MLA Uday Mudliyar.According to the NIA chargesheet, the attack was meticulously planned as part of the banned CPI (Maoist)’s tactical counter-offensive campaign. Maoist commanders conspired during meetings in early 2013 to eliminate “class enemies”, with Mahendra Karma among the main targets.The Maoists triggered a landmine blast beneath a vehicle, creating a 5-foot-deep crater and blocking the road with a stalled truck. From surrounding hilltops, they rained indiscriminate gunfire and hurled grenades at the trapped 20-vehicle convoy for nearly two hours.Of the 27 persons killed, 10 were security personnel. Police records show that the Maoists also looted a 9 mm pistol with two magazines and 20 rounds, two AK-47 rifles with 14 magazines and 455 rounds, 10 hand grenades and communication sets.The NIA took over the investigation two days after the attack and filed its chargesheet against nine accused before the special court on September 25, 2014.On September 28, 2015, the anti-terror agency filed a supplementary chargesheet against 30 more persons. Eleven persons were arrested in the case, but one died during the trial. At least 28 others named in the chargesheets remain wanted.Among the Maoists shown as wanted are Thippiri Tirupathi, alias Devuji, a CPI (Maoist) politburo member who surrendered in Telangana in February; Barse Deva, who succeeded Madvi Hidma as commander of the PLGA Battalion 1 and surrendered in January; and Ganesh Uikey, a CPI (Maoist) central committee member who was killed in a December 2025 encounter in Odisha.The trial lasted more than a decade and involved at least 294 hearings.