A group of human activists and family of C.P. Jaleel, a suspected Maoist who was shot dead at a private resort at Vythiri in Wayanad district on March 6 last year in a police encounter, staged a dharna in front of the collectorate here raising a slew of demands including a comprehensive probe by a government agency into the encounter.
“According to the recent forensic and ballistic reports, all cartridges used for firing were from service rifles and not from a smooth-bore breech loading (SBBL) gun allegedly found on the body of Jaleel,” C.P. Rasheed, Jaleel’s brother said.
The reports said that signs of firing could not be detected in the gun barrel. The police had claimed that commandos killed him in retaliatory fire but the new findings pointed to a fake encounter, Mr. Rasheed said.
Gunshot residues could not be detected in swabs collected from Jaleel’s hands and a wall near the north-western corner of the resort, he said. If Jaleel had shot at the commandos first as per the police report, the residues must have been in his hands, Mr. Rasheed said.
All the findings had shown that Jaleel was killed in a fake encounter, he added.
Former Wayanad District Collector A.R. Ajayakumar had submitted his magisterial report without considering the facts of the reports, he alleged.
The magisterial report should be ruled out and a government agency should conduct a comprehensive investigation into the fake encounter in the wake of the recent reports, he added.
The protesters also demanded a probe into the death of Velmurugan, a Maoist leader who was also killed in a recent police encounter in the district.
Adv. Thushar Nirmal Saradhi, State committee member, Janakeeya Manushyavakasa Prasthanam, inaugurated the protest.
