A Division Bench of the Hyderabad High Court on Monday directed the Special Investigation Team (SIT), constituted to investigate the ‘encounter’ killing of 20 red sanders woodcutters in the Seshachalam forests on April 5, to record by July 3 (Friday) the statements of three purported eye-witnesses to the event.
The Bench, comprising acting Chief Justice Dilip B. Bhosale and Justice S.V. Bhatt, was dealing with a case filed by the Civil Liberties Committee seeking a CBI probe into the encounter. The petitioner wanted a case of murder to be registered against the policemen involved in the ‘encounter’. The counsel appearing for the petitioner said three persons saw the police picking up the victims from a bus. The policemen tortured them and killed them in cold blood, he contended.
The SIT was directed to file a report by July 3.
