A team from the National Confederation of Human Rights Organisations (NCHRO) which led a fact-finding mission into Alair “encounter” killings, demanded that the policemen who escorted the five undertrial prisoners be suspended, and murder cases be filed against them as per Supreme Court directions.
Though detailed directives are available from Supreme Court and National Human Rights Commission about treating all encounter cases as murder cases till they are proven otherwise, the DGP, Anurag Sharma, refused to comply, saying it did not apply to this particular case, the team members alleged at a press conference on Thursday. Elaborating on the loopholes in the police version, Prof. A. Marx, chairperson of the NCHRO, sought to know why the prisoners were taken from the prison complex at 7 a.m. on the day, instead of the usual 11 a.m. He quoted local shopkeepers to allege that the traffic was cleared 5 km from Alair police station for close to two hours from 9 a.m., during which the prisoners were killed. Questioning arrest of the accused other than Vikaruddin under a conspiracy case, even before the latter was captured and interrogated, they pointed out that for a conspiracy case, at least five people should be involved.
Wondering how five handcuffed prisoners overpowered 17 armed policemen, he cited allegations of torture made by their relatives, and apprehensions about being killed expressed by prisoners themselves. “We strongly believe that this is a cold-blooded murder to avenge the killings of police personnel. It was contemplated at a higher level to boost the sagging morale of the Telangana police,” the statement read.
The eight-member team included Reny Ayline, National Secretary, Ko.Sugumaran, Executive-Council member, A. Mohammed Yusuff, National Secretary, T.V.H. Prathmesh, People’s Democratic Forum, Bangalore, Talaha Hussaain, student activist, Bangalore, Mohammed Abdul Ahad, city-based human rights activist, and B.Sreenivasa Rao, National Executive-Council Member of NCHRO.
