The Hindu : Karnataka / Gulbarga News : Judicial inquiry into killing of naxals demanded

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 11, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka - Gulbarga

Judicial inquiry into killing of naxals demanded

By Our Special Correspondent

GULBARGA, FEB. 10. The former Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) leader, S.K. Kanta, today demanded that the State Government order a judicial inquiry, headed by a sitting High Court judge, to investigate the alleged encounter killing of the two naxalites Saketh Rajan and Shivalingappa at Menisanhadya in Chikmagalur district on Sunday.

Accusing the police of killing the two in a fake encounter, Mr. Kanta told presspersons that they were shot at from close range.

He said that the claims of the police that the killing took place after an encounter do not hold good as the bullet wounds on Rajan's forehead and Shivalingappa's stomach indicate that they were shot at from close range.

Mr. Kanta said the State Government should hold the Director-General of Police, S.N. Borkar, responsible for the fake encounter and for refusing to heed the directions of the Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh, to hand over the victims' bodies to representatives of the Citizens' Initiative for Peace.

Guidelines not followed

He said that the bodies of the two naxalites had been hurriedly disposed of to destroy evidence of the encounter.

He accused Mr. Borkar of burying the body of Shivalingappa without waiting for his relatives to arrive in Bangalore and claim the body.

Mr. Kanta said that the police had not followed the guidelines of the National Human Rights Commission for encounter killings and claimed that the personnel from the Special Task Force were used in the encounter.

He said that there is a nexus between landlords, the police and the Government to eliminate those fighting for the rights of tribal people in the Kudremukh National Park area.

The State Government is conspiring to curb these pro-people movements by eliminating their leaders claiming they are naxals, he charged.

He said that these movements and their leaders are only tying to protect the rights of the tribal people and get them their due.

He said that the Government should direct the police to register a first information report (FIR) against the police personnel involved in the encounter and condemned the Bharatiya Janata Party and other members of the Sangh Pariwar for welcoming the Government's action.

He urged the National Human Rights Commission to take note of the incident and launch a suo motu investigation against the police for violating the human rights norms.

Members of the Jana Jagruta Vedike and Nagarika Rakshana Vedike will organise a silent procession in the city on Saturday demanding action against those police personnel who were involved in the encounter and put an end to the ongoing police action against naxals across the State.

Police action against naxals to go on: Page 4

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