A team of advocates representing family members of 20 woodcutters who were last year shot dead in an alleged encounter in Tirupati by the Red Sanders Anti-Smuggling Task Force (RSASTF) on Friday challenged the closure report filed by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Andhra Pradesh police.
The advocates, led by senior criminal lawyer B.B. Mohan, appeared on behalf of the complainant S. Muniammal, of Vetagiripalayam in Tiruvannamalai district whose husband, Sashi Kumar, was among those shot dead on April 7, 2015 in the Seshachalam forest area near Tirupati.
The Andhra Pradesh government had constituted a SIT on April 20, 2015, for a thorough investigation into the incident that led to the gunning down of 20 men hailing from Tamil Nadu.
A notice was served on Ms. Muniammal that a closure report was being filed in the court of the IV Additional Judicial Magistrate of First Class, Tirupati.
Taking notice of the petition filed by the advocates, the court said final orders would be passed only after perusing the final report submitted by the SIT.
