Death of Maoists: court todecide on post-mortem today

Re-examination sought in presence of Chennai forensic expert

: The District and Sessions Court, Manjeri, will hear on Thursday an application for re-examination of the bodies of the two Maoists killed in an alleged encounter with the police inside the Nilambur forests.

The application filed by D. Sreedharan, younger brother of slain Maoist Kuppu Devarajan, urged the court for a re-examination of the bodies of Devarajan and Ajita, alias Kaveri, in the presence of N.R. Prithvi Rajan, forensic expert from Chennai who had assisted the Madras High Court in a couple of police encounter cases.

Principal District and Sessions Judge S.S. Vassan on Tuesday had ordered the police to preserve the bodies of Devarajan and Ajita until December 5, disposing of an application by Mr. Sreedharan.

Mr. Sreedharan, in his fresh application on Wednesday, aired doubts about the police versions and actions in connection with the killings that took place in the Unakkappara region of the Padukka forest station in the Karulai range of Nilambur forests on Thursday last.

He said there was mystery in taking the bodies to the Government Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode, for post-mortem. “Why did they choose the Government Medical College in Kozhikode even when Nilambur Taluk Hospital and Government Medical College Hospital at Manjeri were fully equipped to conduct the post-mortem?” he asked.

Mr. Sreedharan’s counsel P.A. Pouran said that much of the proof made available negated the police claims about an encounter. “Even the nature of bullet injuries on the bodies of an unarmed woman like Ajita indicated that it was a fake encounter,” he said.

Meanwhile, Crime Branch Inspector General Balram Kumar Upadhyaya started an investigation into the killings. The government had ordered a Crime Branch inquiry following allegations of fake encounter.

People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) leaders said here on Wednesday that they would petition Mr. Upadhyaya to file an FIR (first information report) against District Police Superintendent Debesh Kumar Behara, who had supervised the anti-Maoist operation in the Nilambur forests on Thursday last.