AP 'encounter': Second post-mortem ordered

The Judicature of High Court at Hyderabad on Thursday directed Andhra Pradesh to conduct a second post-mortem on Shashi Kumar, one of the 20 woodcutters killed by the Special Task Force during an encounter in Seshachalam forests on April 7.

The bench comprising Chief Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta and Justice Sanjay Kumar gave this direction while hearing a plea by Shashi Kumar’s widow Muniammaal. Earlier, she approached the Madras HC which advised her to appeal before the court here as the encounter took place in Andhra Pradesh. Thursday’s orders came in the wake of assurance of counsel of Muniammal that they would withdraw the petition for second post-mortem from the Madras High Court.

The bench has asked the AP government to send three forensic experts from the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) here to Tamil Nadu to conduct the examination. The court further said that the whole process must be recorded and the report of the post-mortem must be submitted to the court in a sealed cover.

The court also directed the chief secretary of Andhra Pradesh to arrange for the travel of the experts and directed Tamil Nadu to see that the forensic experts were not put to any kind of trouble while they discharge their duties in the neighbouring state where emotions are running high.