Civil liberties panel seeks probe in C’garh Maoists’ encounter
Speaking to reporters, CLC president Gaddam Laxman said he had specific information that the encounter victims included top Maoist leaders.
The Civil Liberties Committee (CLC) of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh on Saturday demanded a judicial inquiry by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court into the killing of around 31 Maoists in the alleged fake encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh on Friday.
Speaking to reporters, CLC president Gaddam Laxman said he had specific information that the encounter victims included top Maoist leaders. “The government should announce the names of the Maoists killed in the alleged encounter, along with their photographs. Their bodies should be handed over to the family members and their funeral be conducted in a respectable manner,” he demanded.
The civil rights activist wondered what message the government wanted to send to the people by resorting to mass killings of Maoists. It was evident that the war between the Maoists and the government was reaching the final stage, as announced by Union home minister Amit Shah.
“The government should give an explanation to the media on this and disclose the factual position. It should allow the reporters to visit the encounter spot to find out the truth behind the killings,” he said.
Laxman alleged that the government had prior information that top Maoist leaders were holding a meeting before the encounter. “Though the police had an opportunity to arrest them, they launched an assault on them and killed them,” he said.
The civil liberties leader said Amit Shah had toured Chhattisgarh thrice in the recent past but never had he given any assurance on the problems of Adivasis, including prevention of communicable diseases and lack of medical care. “All that he was interested in weeding out Maoists and killing them,” he said.
Stating that the Maoist party was working in the Chhattisgarh forests to mitigate the problems of Adivasis, Laxman said it was unfortunate that the police were eliminating not only Maoists, but also innocent Adivasis.
“The government should realise that violence would lead to counter-violence. It should try to resolve the issues through negotiations, rather than using violence,” he added.