On 10 December 2009, indigenous human rights defenders Kopa Kunjam and Alban Toppo were arbitrarily detained and severely beaten. Both Kopa Kunjam and Alban Toppo work with Vanvasi Chetna Ashram (VCA), a human rights and development organisation working with indigenous peoples in southern Chhattisgarh state. Since 2005, VCA has documented human rights abuses committed against the local indigenous peoples by security forces and state-backed militias as part of the ongoing conflict with Maoist rebels in Chhattisgarh state.