Petitions seeking judicial probe into killing of Maoist in SC

New Delhi, Jan 12 (PTI) The Supreme Court has been movedfor a judicial probe into the killing of top Maoist leaderCherukuri Rajkumar and journalist Hemchandra Pandey in analleged encounter with the Andhra Pradesh police six monthsago.

Rajkumar alias Azad, a senior member of banned CPI(Maoist) Central Committee, and Pandey, who was dubbed by thepolice as a Maoist, were killed in the alleged encounter onthe intervening night of July 1-2, 2010, in Adilabad districtof Andhra Pradesh, close to Maharashtra.

The petitions filed by social activist Swami Agniveshand Pandey''s 30-year-old widow Babita sought a direction forthe Centre to hold judicial inquiry into the killings allegingthat post mortem reports of both the persons and a fact-finding exercise carried out by rights groups clearly indicatethat the encounter was not genuine.

They have referred to the fact-finding carried out byCoordination of Democratic Rights Organisations (CDRO), anational coalition of human rights organisations, that bothwere killed by the Andhra Pradesh Police in blatant violationof their rights under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.

The petitions listed for hearing on January 14 allegedthat Azad, 58, who carried a reward of Rs 12 lakh on his headand Pandey, 32 were killed from a very close range which isevident from the post mortem reports of both the persons.

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