Hold impartial probe into Azad killing: Agnivesh
The Hindu
Human Rights Activist Swami Agnivesh. File photo
Act fast to restore public faith in the rule of law, social activist writes to CBI Director
Social activist Swami Agnivesh has urged CBI Director
A.P. Singh to “act to retrieve its [the CBI's] reputation” and carry out
an independent and impartial probe into the alleged July 1, 2010,
encounter killing of Maoist spokesman Cherukuri Raj Kumar alias Azad,
and attack on him (Mr. Agnivesh) and people of three villages of
Chhattisgarh by the Salwa Judum and the police personnel in March last
year.
In a letter to Mr. Singh, dated January 30,
2012, Swami Agnivesh wanted the CBI chief to act fast “to restore public
faith in the rule of law” in both cases. He expressed the hope that the
final report of the CBI on Azad's killing, expected to be submitted to
the Supreme Court by March, would be free and fair.
Recalling
Azad's killing and the subsequent developments which compelled him to
write the letter “with deep anguish,” Swami Agnivesh said that on
January 14, 2011, he filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court seeking a
high-level impartial probe into the encounter. On May 14, the court
asked the CBI to submit the interim report within six weeks and the
final report in three months. “Disregarding the seriousness of this
high-voltage encounter killing involving the Central Home Ministry and
the Andhra Pradesh police and the whole peace process which got sadly
derailed, the CBI dragged its feet for months beyond the deadline,” the
activist said.
The interim report, which was
submitted to the Supreme Court, after seven months, admitted that the
CBI had not looked into the most basic Central Forensic Laboratory
Report. If it were not for the court monitoring, “the CBI would have
compromised its already bruised reputation of working under the
influence of its political bosses,” Swami Agnivesh said.
About
the delay by the CBI on probing the attacks on him and villagers of
Tadmetla, Timapuram and Morpalli, when he and his companions were trying
to deliver relief materials to the people during March last year, he
said that on July 5 the Supreme Court ordered the CBI to file a
preliminary report in six weeks. But it was only last month that the CBI
visited the villages for the first time.
He said the
CBI had till now not recorded the statements of those who accompanied
him (during that visit), or the members of the Salwa Judum or the SPOs,
who were allegedly involved in the attack.
As in the
case of Azad, delay and any leniency shown towards the police during
investigation would “give the public an impression that the CBI is not
serious about this case, and that it is acting under the control of the
Home Ministry.”
The activist said that from news
reports, it was evident that the CBI team was accompanied by some 300
security personnel, including some of the SPOs, who were named by the
villagers of being present during the arson, killings and rapes. There
had also been news reports of beating up of one villager by the forces
in Morpalli, even as the investigation was on. The CBI must hold the
district police responsible for vitiating the investigation.
According
to the Andhra Pradesh police, Azad, along with a journalist, was shot
dead, in an exchange of fire in Adilabad district. Azad was a member and
spokesman of the Central Committee of the CPI (Maoist).
However, a probe by human rights activists claimed that both of them were shot dead in cold blood and it was a fake encounter.
