Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee (APCLC) State general secretary Ch. Chandrasekhar has said the killing of woodcutters in the Seshachalam forest range in Chittoor district has clear evidences of a fake encounter.
He demanded that Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu order a judicial probe into the incident and cases be booked against police under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code if they were found guilty.
A 40-member fact-finding team, led by Delhi-based Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisations (CDRO), on its visit to the Seshachalam forest on April 11 had found several inconsistencies in claims made by police.
“There is a pattern to the killings, as the bodies were found scattered at a distance of eight to 10 feet from one another. The bodies had signs of torture, according to the kin of the deceased. Several other things clearly suggest it was a fake encounter. Only a judicial probe or investigation by the CBI will reveal the chilling facts,” Mr. Chandrasekhar said.
He added there was no evidence of attack on the two separate batches of the Special Task Force (comprising 12 police personnel and three forest guards each) that ventured into the forest.
The workers had no place to hide, as there were only small shrubs in the area, which is barely a furlong away from the path to the Lord Venkateswara temple on Tirumala hills. As many as 15 CC cameras were installed in the area. Police had also deployed a drone to track the movements of woodcutters. Police had enough time to mobilise additional forces if there were 400-plus workers, he said.
