Director General of Police RR Girish Kumar on Sunday stated that there was no need for a comprehensive probe into the
encounter of top Maoist leader Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad in Adilabad district on July 2.
Talking to media persons after inaugurating a cyber laboratory at Crime Investigation Department Office, Girish Kumar said that there is no evidence to disprove the police version of the sequence of events.
Maoist sympathizers have called for a comprehensive probe citing discrepancies in the First Information Report and the postmortem report and the police version of the events leading to and after the encounter.
The DGP had, on Saturday, rubbished the claims by a well-known news magazine that it had obtained the slain Maoist leader's postmortem report. The magazine had also claimed that it had taken the views of 3 acknowledged experts who have said that the Maoist leader was shot dead at 'point blank range.'
Girish Kumar said that the probe would look into all aspects and seek to answer the doubts and reservations expressed by 'Rights Organisations'.
Earlier, Adilabad Superintendent of Police P Promod Kumar said that allegations made by Human Rights organizations, that the Azad encounter was stage-managed and fake, were false.
Meanwhile, revolutionary poet P Varava Rao claimed that the encounter was fake as the autopsy report had mentioned 'blackening' of the bullet entry wounds on the body. He said that these indicate that shots were fired at a 'close range'.
Right from the time the news of Azad's 'encounter' broke, doubts have been raised by various Maoist sympathisers on the police version of the shootout. Claiming that the encounter was fake, these sympathisers claim that Azad's mother had already filed a petition on March 20 before the State Human Rights Commission claiming that the top Maoist leader was missing since March 12.
What The The Police Say
The police had claimed that they had seen some persons acting suspiciously and shouted orders to get them to stop. The persons then scurried across into the forest with the police personnel on duty going after them.
The Maoists then fired at the police, who were forced to retaliate. The exchange of gunfire continued till around 2:30am on July 2. After the firing stopped, the security forces had ventured into the conflict area and discovered 2 bodies, according to the police version.
According to sources, the post-mortem examination report said the fatal bullet entered Azad's body from the upper chest, and exited from the lower vertebral column.
What The 'Rights Groups' Say
However, the FIR said the police fired upwards, after spotting the Maoists on a hill. In that case, the bullet should have pierced Azad's body from lower vertebrae, according to the Civil Rights organisations.
The autopsy reports also mentioned that the burn marks at the bullet entry point in the body were signs of the shots being fired at close range.
Another discrepancy in the police version was that the police had 'identified' the slain Maoist and journalist Hemachandra Pandey, but while filing the FIR, the 2 were mentioned as 'unidentified'.
Rights Groups have sought an inquiry to be conducted by a sitting Judge of the Supreme Court, who should be selected by the Chief Justice of the country.
Courtesy: INN