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Probe sought into killing of scribe

DEHRA DUN: The Uttarakhand Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Prakash Pant, has urged the Union Home Minister, P. Chidambaram, to immediately order a high level probe into the alleged encounter in Adilabad district of Andhra Pradesh recently in which Hem Chandra Pandey a freelance journalist hailing from Pithoragarh was killed along with the Maoist leader Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad.

Speaking at a condolence meeting at the Nagar Palika Hall in Pithoragarh, Mr Pant said that Mr Pandey was well known as a journalist and a scribe's killing by the police in an allegedly fake encounter was a blot on democratic values.

Mahendra, district president of the Congress, said Mr Pandey was known as a crusader for the uplift of the poor and the best way to pay homage to him would be by resolving to improve the lot of the deprived sections.

Mayukh Singh, BJP MLA, wanted a CBI probe into the encounter as the police had no right to kill anyone.

“The best cops could do was to nab the accused person and prove his anti-social activities in a court of law”, he said.

Govind Kafliya of the CPI (ML) demanded strict action against the policemen who carried out or supervised the encounter.

Babita, the widow of Mr Pandey, accused the Andhra Pradesh police of having arrested him (Mr Pandey) and Mr Azad in Nagpur and killing them in cold blood.

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Probe sought into killing of scribe

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