Social activist Swami Agnivesh on Saturday wondered why the Supreme Court, which normally takes suo motu cognisance of human rights violation cases, had not considered the ‘false encounter’ and massacre of 20 tribals, branding them as Naxalites. The tribals were killed in an alleged encounter on June 28 by CRPF personnel in Karseguda village of Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh.
Though it was more than three months since the incident occurred, justice had not been rendered to the families of the victims, he charged. He wondered why the judicial inquiry, announced by the Chhattisgarh government, had not commenced so far. “It is most pathetic and shameful that the post-mortem of the victims’ bodies had not been conducted at all,” he said.
Talking to The Hindu here, Swami Agnivesh also wanted to know what had happened to the report of the internal inquiry, promised by CRPF Director-General K. Vijay Kumar, who is retiring on Sunday. “Why has the report not been made public?” he asked. He claimed there was total “miscarriage of justice” as the State government had not released even the inquiry report of the sub-divisional magistrate.
Among those killed in the operation launched by the CRPF’s special unit — Combined Battalion for Resolute Action — were seven children, including girls, in the age group 12-14. One victim was a small boy who was shot in the legs and then brutally murdered, Swami Agnivesh said.
Describing the incident as a cold-blooded mass murder, the social activist said the culprits should be brought to book immediately.
