Monday, Nov 24, 2003
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Karnataka
By Our Staff Reporter
Addressing presspersons here on Sunday, PDF and ALF members condemned the killings and called it a "fake encounter". They disputed the police version of the two women being killed during an encounter and said they would soon write to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to investigate the episode. The PDF member, Nagari Babaiah, said a team comprising members of PDF, ALF, and some journalists carried out a fact-finding mission to enquire about the encounter at Bollottu on November 21. "It is shocking to find that our findings are contrary to the police statements", he said. "The encounter killing has raised doubts about the intentions of the police. We can't call it an encounter as there was firing from only one side. According to the residents of the house and eye-witnesses, the two women - Sumathi and Usha — were fired at from point-blank range. The police had gone there with an intention to kill", he alleged. Pointing out that there was a lot of space between two houses in the Malnad region, another member, Ramaswamy, said the police could have easily surrounded the house and cornered the inmates instead of killing them. "They were not involved in any violent uprising or criminal activities to invite such a strong action. Besides, they were not armed at that moment. The police could have overpowered them or immobilised them. They could have been easily apprehended instead of being killed in the encounter," he said. Sharing the findings of the team, Prof. Babaiah said the police should have filed an FIR soon after the encounter. But it was not done. "The Superintendent of Police is not sure how much ammunition was spent in the encounter. He said he could tell it only the next day. We suspect the police have political support to do so," he said. "Even if they are naxalites, violence is not the solution. All the policemen involved in the so-called encounter should be placed under suspension with immediate effect," Prof. Babaiah demanded. Copies of a written appeal by Yashoda, the injured woman "naxalite" who has been hospitalised, were circulated to presspersons. "Yashoda is an eye-witness and we fear her life is under threat. Though she was not in police custody till yesterday, nobody was allowed to see her at the hospital. She has been illegally detained by the police, who are guarding her at the hospital", the members alleged. "The naxalite problem is not a law and order problem, but a political agitation. It is ridiculous that the Government has announced a Rs 60-crore package now," the members added.
It was not fake: DGP
The Director-General of Police, T.Madiyal, denied that the police had kept Yashoda in illegal detention. No case of illegal detention of anyone had come to his notice, he said. Mr. Madiyal refuted the PDF allegation that it was a fake encounter. Two policemen received bullet injuries when the women, who were killed in the encounter, fired at them. The women carried firearms. The police had fired at the women in self-defence, he said. On the PDF allegation that the women were not involved in criminal activities, Mr. Madiyal said that did not give them any right to fire at policemen.
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