NEW DELHI: A "fact-finding" team of 10 human rights organisations, which toured some areas in Maharashtra after the killings of four Dalits at Khairlanji, has accused the police of continuing to violently suppress legitimate protests against the incident.

A report by the team said the police opened fire during the closing stages of a rally in Amravati killing one and injuring three on November 15. On the same day, a group of 25 women on their way to the rally were arrested and beaten up. At Yawatmal, a rally led by activist Pramodini Kamteke ended with the police entering Dailt homes and beating up people.

The report also recorded "malicious victimisation'' such as the dismissal of a woman constable in Kamptee near Nagpur. An Amravati school teacher was arrested because he had some posters and fact-finding reports. He has since been suspended from service and hospitalised after suffering from a heart attack. A physically-challenged Military Engineering Service employee, along with his wife was beaten up by police.

Apart from demanding a probe by the National Human Rights Commission and registration of cases under the Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the team has demanded withdrawal of cases and reinstatement of employees. The team, which toured Amravati, Kamptee, Khairlanji and nearby areas of Nagpur, included activists from the People's Union for Civil Liberties, the People's Union for Democratic Rights, the Jaatiya Shoshan Virrudh Sangharsh Samiti, the Samajik Nyay Morcha, the Dalit Intellectual Forum of Human Rights, the Apeksha and the Committee Against Violence on Women.

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