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DGP hints at ban on APCLC

By Our Staff Reporter

GUNTUR NOV. 8. The Director-General of Police, S.R.Sukumara, has said that imposing a ban on the Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee (APCLC) is `under serious consideration' of the State Government.

Replying to a volley of questions at an impromptu news conference at the venue of the 37th State police games and sports meet here today, Mr. Sukumara said that the APCLC was the `legal outfit' of the outlawed People's War (PW). Asked as to why a ban had not been imposed on the organisation so far when he was convinced that it was an outfit of the PW, he pointed out that it was for the Government to take a decision.

To a query whether the Police Department made a proposal to this effect to the Government, he replied in the affirmative, and added that it was under serious consideration of the Government.

Mr. Sukumara said that the Nalgonda district committee secretary (DCS) of the PW, Naveen, was responsible for the killing of Siraj alias Azaad. He denied the charges made by the PW that some police officials encouraged him to indulge in `covert operations.' "We do not know as to why the PW killed Siraj. In fact, he is the most wanted for us. Siraj has never seen any of the police officers he has mentioned. A.K.Khan is the Additional Commissioner of Hyderabad city police. This officer has nothing to do with the PW and its activities,'' said the DGP.

Dwelling at length about the `disclosures' by Siraj, the DGP said that the PW tried to paint a communal picture to the whole thing. Why did he have to name Mr. Khan and the former naxalite leader, Nayeem. In fact, Mr. Nayeem also denied having any contact with Siraj. "Going by this, you please draw your inferences,'' he quipped. The department would take the `necessary action' against the killers of Siraj.

The DGP said that the APCLC president, Laxman, was not kidnapped. He `only absconded.' Claiming that he had no knowledge whether Dr. Laxman sustained any injuries, Mr. Sukumara said: ''It is 100 per cent a drama enacted by the APCLC to malign the police. He has never been kidnapped. He has gone to Yadagirigutta to have his head tonsured. He has not told anybody, including his wife.'' On knowing that Siraj was killed by the PW, he came out of exile. In fact, their drama `fell on their face.' He termed the kidnap theory as a `stupid story.' Asked how come Dr. Laxman returned home after his wife called on the Chief Minister, the DGP felt that it was a coincidence.

Mr. Sukumara sounded very firm when he asserted that the police force was capable of tackling naxalites with the available resources. Naxalites lost their base in Telangana region and were trying to spread in Guntur and Prakasam districts, he said. Asked whether his observation was convincing in the wake of an attack on the Kalvakurthy MLA, Jaipal Yadav, yesterday, the DGP said it was a stray incident.

"Can we say the PW has become strong in Chittoor district just because of one major incident?'' he asked. Asked as to how he was feeling when some of his senior colleagues were nursing political ambitions, even as he was flanked by the Guntur Range IG, P. Chandrasekhara Reddy, the DGP said: "When journalists are making forays into politics, why not policemen.''

CM in the dark?

Our Special Correspondent in Hyderabad writes: Meanwhile the Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, gave a guarded reply to the DGP's comments on ban on the APCLC. " I do not know what you asked him and what he replied. I will have to find out the content of his remarks before commenting on it," Mr. Naidu said when reporters asked him about it at an informal chat after the videoconference.

The Chief Minister, however, asserted that the Government would not tolerate any violence in the State nor would it allow any excesses by anyone.

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