Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala has asked the State government to come clean on the gunning down of suspected Maoist C.P. Jaleel by the Thunderbolt commando unit at Lakkidi two days ago. He called for a judicial inquiry into the incident.
Addressing a press conference here on Friday, Mr. Chennithala said that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had not reacted to the alleged encounter killing so far and added that the incident was nothing short of the incompetence of the Left Democratic Front government in tackling Left wing extremism in north Kerala.
He also wondered about the silence of CPI State secretary Kanam Rajendran who had earlier condemned the alleged encounter killing of two Maoists, including a woman, inside the Nilambur forest in November 2006.
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The Congress leader said that he did not want to term the incident as a fake encounter but the relatives of the slain person had doubts about the killing. There were also reports that his family had an inclination towards Maoist ideology. Besides, it was reported that Jaleel was shot from behind. So people had every right to know the truth, he said.