The Adilabad District Special Court has delivered a sensational verdict in the Maoist leader Azad encounter case.
The court directed the filing of cases against 20 police personnel who participated in the Azad encounter and an inquiry into the case.
Speaking after the court's verdict, Azad's wife Padma said that the verdict gave her happiness.
"My belief in the judiciary has strengthened with this verdict. I hope that the police who participated in the encounter will get the right punishment," she said.
The police had "encountered" Maoist leader Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad on July 2, 2011, in the Adilabad district forest area along with journalist Hemachandra Pande. Human rights associations expressed anger at the police in regard to the encounter, and alleged that the police had caught Azad and Hemachandra Pande at Nagpur in Maharashtra and killed them in the Adilabad forests. The activists had staged several protest at that time over the encounter.