The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has conducted an inquiry here on Tuesday with the family members of the woodcutters killed in a fake encounter in the Seshachalam forests in April.
Family members of the 12 victims who were from Tiruvannamalai district took part in the inquiry. Senior Superintendent of Police, NHRC, Sumedha Dwivedi was heading the team. I.R. Kurillose, Bimaljit Uppal and Nitin Kumar are the other members of the team. Revenue Divisional Officer, Tiruvannamalai, Uma Maheswari was present.
PMK advocate K.Balu, who filed a petition on behalf of Muniyammal, wife of one of the victims, seeking an inquiry, was also present.
“Statements of the family members were recorded in Tamil and will be translated later. The NHRC will finally prepare a report which might recommend compensation for the families, action on erring policemen etc.,” he said.
Asirvatham, State coordinator of People’s Watch, a Madurai-based rights organisation, who was present during the inquiry, told The Hindu that the NHRC team should have made visits to the villages of victims to conduct inquiry as it might have helped them to ascertain their socio economic conditions too. But the victims were brought together here with the help of State to help the NHRC team, he said.