Post-mortem report submitted in sealed cover
Hyderabad High Court
Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh government on Monday submitted the first post-mortem report on the police encounter in which 20 woodcutters were killed in Seshachalam near Tirupati on April 7, before the Hyderabad High Court in a sealed cover.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta and Justice P.V. Sanjay Kumar perused the autopsy report of the forensic doctors at Ruya Hospital who conducted the autopsy on the deceased.
The bench was dealing with a petition moved by Chilaka Sudhakar, general secretary of the civil liberties committee and family members of six woodcutters seeking to book a case under Section 302 of IPC (Murder) against the police personnel involved in the encounter and conduct re-post-mortem of the bodies of the deceased.
After perusing the report, the bench said that it will proceed further in the case after going through the re-post-mortem report and asked AP’s advocate-general P. Venugopal when the report will be placed before the court. While replying that the forensic experts from Osmania and Gandhi Hospital have conducted fresh autopsy on the six bodies that are preserved in a government hospital in Thiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu, the A-G said that the report will be placed on Thursday.
SC to hear petition for CBI investigation on April 27:
The Supreme Court on Monday posted for hearing on April 27, a writ petition filed by Thol. Thirumavalavan, president of Viduthalai Chiru-thaigal Katchihas for a probe by the CBI or a Special Investigation Team headed by former CBI director R.K. Ragh-avan into the alleged fake encounter killings of 20 woodcutters from TN by AP cops on April 7.
A bench of Chief Justice H.L. Dattu and Justice Arun Mishra posted the case for hearing to next week after counsel informed the SC that senior advocate Ram Jethmalani was representing the petitioner and pleaded for adjournment. The bench also adjourned to April 27 another writ filed by advocate Muthukrishnan seeking similar relief.
In a writ petition Mr Thirumavalavan, alleged that in an undeclared war, innocent people living in and around Andhra and TN border areas were being harassed, arrested and killed in fake encounters.
He said in a recent fake encounter 20 woodcutters from the districts of Krishnagiri, Vellore and Tiruvannamalai of Tamil Nadu were killed in the most brutal manner. He said these labourers go to AP to cut red sanders in the Seshachalam hill ranges spread over 350 km.
At least seven workers were picked up by the police and were kept in the deep forest to give the spin that they were killed in exchange of fire. The killings of poor woodcutters started one year earlier.
He said many human right activists after going though the circumstances and nature of injuries on the body of victims had categorically held that it was a fake encounter and
claimed that the version of police was a smoke screen. The AP government had fiercely defended the action of the Red Sanders Anti-Smuggling Special Task Force (RSASTF) in killing 20 woodcutters in the encounter.
He said the Andhra Police had been indiscriminately arresting many innocent residents of Tamil Nadu going to Chittoor and Other border districts of Nellore, Kadapa and
Karnool, for petty jobs like masonry, carpentry and daily wage workers and also some time killing them in false encounters.
Alleging that the AP police failed to follow the due procedure of law and the guidelines on encounters, he sought a direction for a SIT probe and a direction to the AP government to furnish details of those killed and arrest in recent months.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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