Chaotic scenes were witnessed at the Government Hospital in Manchiriyal town in Adilabad as Maoist sympathisers and civil rights activists jostled with the police in a bid to be allowed inside the hospital where the body of
slain Maoist leader Cherukuri Rajkumar, alias Azad, was brought for autopsy.
The police allowed Azad's mother, C Karuna, and brother, C Suresh, to see his body as per directions of the court; while media persons, Maoist sympathisers (including balladeer Gaddar and poet Varavara Rao) and other civil liberties activists were held back.
The Maoist sympathisers had gathered in a large number at the hospital premises, and had urged the police to be allowed to see the bodies of Azad and another Naxalite shot dead in the early hours of Friday. Heated exchanges were witnessed when the police refused them entry in the hospital building. Media persons staged an impromptu protest for being held back.
Talking to media persons, balladeer Gaddar said that Azad was the spokesperson for the Maoists, and that his 'encounter' showed that the government was unwilling to hold talks.
Maoist sympathisers had alleged that the encounter was fake and that Azad had been shot dead in cold blood, from the time news about the encounter began to circulate.
The Maoist sympathisers warned of a 'mass revolution' against the elected governments if the 'stage-managed' encounters do not stop.
Poet Varavara Rao had filed a petition in the state High Court on Friday, seeking the court to direct the police to shift the slain ultra's body to Hyderabad. The poet had also sought strict action against the police personnel involved in the encounter.
Courtesy: INN News