Sarkeguda Massacre: Demand for prosecution of CRPF personnel under SC/ST Act

Sarkeguda Massacre: Demand for prosecution of CRPF personnel under SC/ST Act

Civil society demands Govt. to kill poverty not the poor



By TCN News,

18July, 2012

New Delhi: An Open Discussion on the theme Kill Poverty Not The Poor- Stop Killing Innocent Adivasis was held on Monday at Indian Social Institute, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, jointly by Mission Bhartiyam and National Confederation of Human Rights Organisation (NCHRO).

Many students, activists and academicians participated in discussion to share the views and to find out a common strategy to prevent any such incidents in future. Speakers included Swami Agnivesh, Dr John Dayal, Himanshu Kumar, Nandini Sunder, Advocate Mubeen Akthar, Bimal Bhai, Prof Ashutosh Kumar, Dr. Marianus Kujur and youth activist Anisuzaman of Campus Front.

Adivasis or tribals among minorities have always been at the receiving end of the society and establishment. Denial of justice to them and violence directed at them continue even today despite announced official policies and declarations to the contrary. In 1990, the National Commission on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes found that the main causes of ‘atrocities’ against tribals were land disputes, alienation of tribal land, bonded labour, indebtedness, and non-payment of minimum wages. The adivasis are handicapped by poverty, illiteracy, economic dependence and ignorance of the law. In recent years it has been reported that in the combat against armed Maoists and naxals innocent adivasis and tribals are also being killed. The latest incident took place on the night of 28th June 2012 when the adivasi peasants of Sarkeguda, Kottaguda and Rajpenta (Bijapur district of south Chhattisgarh) gathered to plan the performance of the traditional festival Beej Pandum (seed festival). They were surrounded by hundreds of Police and Para-military forces. The armed forces resorted to indiscriminate firing killing 17 adivasis (including 6 minors) and several others were injured seriously. Two other villagers were likewise killed near Jagargunda village of Sukma district in the same night, and were shown as casualties of an ‘encounter’ between the Maoists and the armed forces.

As the testimonies of the eyewitnesses coming through the Media, Fact Finding Reports of different Civil / Democratic Right Teams and the statements of different social-political forces (including the Congress Party of Chhattisgarh) now confirm that the killing of the adivasis was a heinous massacre committed by the Cobra battalion of the CRPF and the Chhattisgarh Police.

Addres

sing the meeting, Swami Agnivesh emphasized on a common strategy to fight with this problem. He said political solutions of these problems must come from the side of public.

Himanshu Kumar, eminent activist working for adivasis, narrated letters written to him by adivasis and also shared his experiences and viewpoints. He said that President of India is the main custodian of adivasis and thus it automatically becomes his responsibility to react and to come forward on such issue.

Prof Nandini Sunder, who recently visited Bijapur to meet the tribes there descri

bed horrible situation there. She said that wounded persons are being treated at hospitals but they are handcuffed and armed personnel are deployed there.

The house passed resolution demanding that all the CRPF and CoBRA personnel who participated in the massacre near Sarkeguda village must be charged under Section 302 of IPC and under the SC, ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and prosecuted, and all the victim families of this massacre must be given appropriate compensation.

Pakistan Supreme Court tough stand on mega corruption is inspiring. Agnivesh

Pakistan Supreme Court tough stand on mega corruption is inspiring. Agnivesh

New Delhi

13^th July 2012

Congratulation to Supreme Court of Pakistan which has given a tough warning to Prime Minister Raja Parvez Ashraf about taking action on corruption charges against Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari. Our country also needs similar steps.

            In 1990 V.P Singh government was formed as a result of movement against Rs. 65 crore corruption in Bofors gun deal. Now the mega corruption charges of couple of lakhs of crore have come to light. This run away corruption is talking place when we boast of two successive incorruptible Prime Ministers, Atal Behari Vajpayee & Manmohan Singh.

            It is open secret that the looted Indian wealth has been stashed in Swiss banks and other tax havens. The government is taking shelter under the so called secrecy treaties. In the neighboring country the Supreme Court has shown tremendous judicial will to unearth the black money by invoking contempt proceedings against the erstwhile Prime Minister Yusuf Reza Gilani which resulted in his unseating. Now the new Prime Minister Raja Parvez Ashraf has been served notice to take action on the same ground by 25^th July.

But why is the Supreme Court of the largest democracy in the world fighting shy of being similarly tough and uncompromising on the issue of India’s plundered wealth?  

Why have they not served an ultimatum to the Government of India? Particularly when our Hon’ble Judges know too well that our government is not very sincere and prompt in giving this country a strong LokPal. If the people of Pakistan could feel empowered by the tough line taken by their Supreme Court why we Indians are being deprived of such badly needed sense empowerment?

- Swami Agnivesh 

Hkjksls dh tkap ls cprs 'kkld &&& Lokeh vfXuos'k

Hkjksls dh tkap ls cprs 'kkld &&& Lokeh vfXuos'k

rF; tc [kqn cksyrs gks rks ogka vius utfj;s ds iSacn dh t:jr ugha gksuh pkfg,A NÙkhlx<+ ds chtkiqj ds lkjdsxqMk] dksVkxqMk vkSj jktisaVk ds vkfnoklh fdlkuksa ds ekjs tkus dh ?kVuk ls tqM+s mu rF;ksa ij igys xkSj djuk pkfg, tks fd vkerkSj ij ehfM;k esa ugha vkrs gSaA D;k ;g lgh ugha gS fd ml ?kVuk dh iwoZla/;k esa gh chtkiqj ds çeq[k laoknnkrkvksa dks okrkuqdwyhu cl esa cSBkdj lSjlikVs ds fy, gSnjkckn Hkst fn;k x;k Fkk\ 28 twu dh ?kVuk ls ?kaVksa igys ftys ds loksZPp iqfyl vf/kdkjh jktsUæ ukjk;.k nkl dk rcknyk fd;k x;k vkSj mUgsa jk;iqj eq[;ky; Hkst fn;k x;kA mudh txg ij tks vf/kdkjh ç'kkar vxzoky ftys esa vk, os ?kVuk ds ,d fnu ckn viuk inHkkj laHkkyrs gSaA D;k ;s tkudkjh fey ldrh gS fd lrjg yk'kksa dk dqy ,d ?kaVs ls de le; esa iksLVekVZe dSls dj fn;k x;k vkSj tcfd ogka dqy nks MkDVj gh ekStwn Fks \ D;k ;g Hkh lp gS fd lhvkjih,Q ds egkfuns”kd] mifuns”kd vkSj chtkiqj ds dysDVj Jh jtr dqekj lHkh dukZVd ds gSa \ D;k ;g Hkh lp gS fd MhvkbZth dh Hkrhth dks chtkiqj esa ,d yk[k :Œ dh ekfld ru[okg ij MkDVj yxk;k x;k gS \ tks lc fMohtuy eftLVªsV dq:oa'kh iksLVekVZe ds le; ekStwn Fks mUgsa gh ckn esa eftLVªsV tkap dh ftEesnkjh Hkh ns nh xbZA njvly NÙkhlx<+ dh ?kVukvksa vkSj [kklrkSj ls ftu ?kVukvksa esa ljdkjh e'khujh 'kkfey gS mUgsa lkekU; rjhds ls Lohdkj ugha fd;k tk ldrk gS vkSj mlds ihNs Bksl dkj.k ;g gS fd ogka vkfnokfl;ksa dks yxkrkj ekvksoknh dgdj ekjk o rjg rjg ls çrkfM+r fd;k tkrk gS vkSj ;s ckr lqçhe dksVZ dh dbZ fVIif.k;ksa vkSj fofHkUu Lrjksa ij dh xbZ tkap ls çekf.kr gks pqdh gSA

lkjdsxqMk] dksVkxqMk vkSj jktisaVk xkaoksa ds vkfnoklh fdlkuksa ij 28 twu dh jkr lqj{kk cyksa ds rhu lkS tokuksa us ?ksjdj ftl rjg ls xksfy;ka pyk;h og ?kVuk igys dh ?kVukvksa ds eqdkcys Hk;kog gSA yxrk gS fd NÙkhlx<+ esa vkfnokfl;ksa dh  cSBdckth Hkh vc [krjs esa iM+ xbZ gS tcfd lkewfgdrk dh laL—fr esa gh vkfnokfl;ksa ds çk.k clrs gSaAvkfnoklh lekt esa dksbZ Hkh ,slk lkekftd dk;Z ugha gksxk tgka os lewg esa QSlyk ugha djrs gksaxsA28 twu dh jkr Hkh ,d fdyksehVj ds nk;js esa vkus okys rhu xkaoksa ds vkfnoklh fdlku viuk ikjEifjd R;kSgkj cht iaMqe eukus ds fy, bdëk gq,A lqj{kk cyksa }kjk de ls de 18 vkfnokfl;ksa ds dRysvke ds ckn ;s nkok fd;k tk jgk gS fd ;s eqBHksM+ gSA mlh jkr dks lqdek ftys ds txM+xqaMk xkao esa Hkh 2 xkao okyksa dks blh rjg ekj fn;k x;k vkSj tSlh laHkkouk Fkh bls Hkh ekvksokfn;ksa vkSj lqj{kk cyksa ds chp gqbZ eqBHksM+ ds nkSjku gqbZ ekSr ds :i esa fn[kk;k x;kA +tcfd ?kVuk ds iwoZ ds rF; o ifjfLFkrhtU; lk{; vkSj ?kVuk ds ckn  çR;{knf'kZ;ksa] dk;ZdrkZvksa o lhihvkbZ ekvksoknh ds tks c;ku ehfM;k esa vk, mlls vc ;g Li’V gks x;k gS fd dkscjk cVkfy;u o NÙkhlx<+ iqfyl us bl t?kU; gR;kdkaM dks vius mPp vf/kdkfj;ksa] lhvkjih,Q ds Mhth fot; dqekj o NÙkhl<+ iqfyl ds vkbZth Vh-th-yksaxdqekj ds vkns'k ij vatke fn;k x;kA ;g gR;kdkaM Hkkjrh; jkT; O;oLFkk esa vkfnokfl;ksa ds f[kykQ flrEcj 2004 esa 'kq: fd, x, lyok tqMwe vkSj ckn esa v‚Wij'ku xzhu gaV ds rgr fd, tkus okys lqfu;ksftr nq*çpkj dk fgLlk gSA funksZ"k vkfnokfl;ksa ds bl gR;kdkaM dks lÙkk çfr*Bku ds dkaxzslh dsaæh; x`gea=h ih- fpnacje vkSj NÙkhlx<+ ds Hkktik eq[;ea=h jeu flag us bls ekvksokfn;ksa ds f[kykQ lcls cM+h lQyrk ds :i esa is'k fd;kA ih- fpnacje us rks blls vkxs c<+dj bl >wB dks çpkfjr djrs gq, dgk fd bl eqBHksM+ esa 17 nqnkZUr ekvksoknh ekjs x,A lhvkjih,Q o iqfyl ds mPp vf/kdkjh viuh Nrksa ls fpYyk jgs gSa fd mUgksaus gfFk;kjcan ekvksoknh usrkvksa vkSj muds dSMjksa dks ekjk gSAbls eqBHksM+ crkus ds fy, mUgksaus ;g Hkh nkok fd;k gS fd lqj{kk cyksa ds 6 toku Qk;fjax esa ?kk;y gq, gSaA dkjiksjsV ehfM;k dk ,d fgLlk cs'kehZ ls bl [kwuh gR;kdkaM ds ckn 'kkld  oxZ }kjk euk, x, t'u esa 'kkfey gqvkAfQj Hkh bl rjg dh pkykfd;ka o lQsn >wB lkjsdxqMk gR;kdkaM ds ihNs Nqis lp dks fNikus esa cqjh rjg ukdke lkfcr gq,A lp rks ;g gS fd lSdM+ksa gfFk;kjcan iqfyldfeZ;ksa o lhvkjih,Q vf/kdkfj;ksa us xkao okyksa dh ,d vke lHkk dks fu'kkuk cukdj T;knk ls T;knk yksxksa dks ekjus ds mís”; ls rkcM+rksM+ xksfy;ka pykbZA tku xaokus okyksa esa ikap cPps FksA ,d 9 lky dh yM+dh vkSj ,d 11 lky dk yM+dk Hkh gSA blds vykok 12 ls 15 o"kZ dh vk;q ds rhu cPps Hkh bl gR;kdkaM esa ekjs x, gSaA gR;kdkaM esa chtw vkfnoklh vkSjr us ftldh mez rdjhcu 65 lky gS vius nksuksa cPpksa dks [kks fn;kA mlus i=dkjksa dks crk;k esjs cPps uDlyh ugha FksA 17 o"kZ ds lcdk ehrw dh ekSr xys esa rst /kkj gfFk;kj ls pksV yxus ls gqbZA bjik NksVw 14 o"kZ ds lkjdsxqMk ds vkfnoklh cPps us crk;k mls lqj{kk cyksa us idM+k mlls iwNrkN dh vkSj ckn esa mldh Vkax esa xksyh ekj nhA vxys fnu lqcg ,d vkfnoklh ;qod jes'k dks mlds firk ds lkeus ml oä xksyh ekj dj gR;k dj nh xbZ tc og vius ?kj ls ckgj fudy jgk FkkA mlds ckn bl fxjksg us jktw ds ?kj dks rksM+k vkSj 5000 #i;s ywV fy,A ;s vR;kpkjksa dh dqN gh ?kVuk,a gSa tks çdk'k esa vkbZ gSAcykRdkj ds mísß; ls 4 vkfnoklh efgykvksa ds mij geyk o NsM+NkM+ dh xbZAv[kckjksa esa Nis ?kVuk ds xokgksa ds c;kuksa ds vuqlkj xkao okyksa us fpYykdj lqj{kkcyksa ls Qk;fjax jksdus dks dgk ij Qk;fjax :dh ugha vkSj funksZ"kksa dk [kwuh ujlagkj ?kaVksa rd tkjh jgkA ckn esa dqN 'koksa dks VªSDVj esa Mkydj gR;k dh txg ls gVk fn;k x;kA

bl ujlagkj ds ckn tks xzkeh.k cps gSa mUgksaus crk;k gS fd dksbZ ekvksoknh lHkk esa ekStwn ugha FkkA lhihvkbZ ekvksoknh ds naMdkj.; Lis”ky tksuy desVh ds çoäk xqMlk mlsaMh us ,ch,u dh vka/kzT;ksfr dks fn, baVjO;w esa dsaæh; x`gea=h ds ml c;ku dh fuank dh gS ftlesa mlus dgk Fkk fd cM+s ekvksoknh usrk lksewyw ukxs”k vkSj egs”k Hkh e`rdksa esa “kkfey gSA mUgksaus ;g Hkh Li’V fd;k fd bjik lqjs”k ftls chtkiqj vkSj narsokMk dh ihiqYl xqfjYyk vkehZ dk dekaMj crk;k x;k gS ejus okyksa esa “kkfey ugha gSaA bjik lqjsßk ftls ekjk x;k gS og okLro esa vkfnoklh fdlku gS tks xkao esa vius fjßrsnkjksa dks feyus vk;k FkkA

onhZ esa cSBs bu vijkf/k;ksa dks jkT; vkSj “kkld oxZ ls bruh lqj{kk o laj{k.k çkIr gS fd bl ujlagkj esa “kkfey lSfud mRlkfgr gksdj dgrk gS fd vHkh geus cM+s gfFk;kjksa jkdsV ykapj o gSaM xzsusM dk bLrseky ugha fd;kA vxj ge pkgrs rks iwjs xkao dks cckZn dj ldrs FkAs ekuks bl ccZj ujlagkj dks vatke nsus ds ckn Hkh dqN djuk ckdh jg x;k FkkA bl rjg dh Hkk"kk ds ihNs D;k ;s rF; ugha tqM+k  gS fd dsoy naMdkj.; esa lYok tqMe }kjk 650 xkao tyk fn, x, vkSj mudk cky ckadk Hkh ugha gqvkA

NÙkhlx<+ esa rks fdlh ?kVuk dh tkap rd laHko ugha gSA 2011 esa 11 ekpZ ls 16 ekpZ rd rhu xkaoksa rkM+esVyk] eksjiYyh vkSj frEekiqje  esa vkx yxkbZ xbZ A efgykvksa ds f[kykQ cykRdkj gq, vkSj pkj vkfnokfl;ksa dh gR;k dh xbZA ysfdu mldh tkap vHkh rd ugha gqbZA lqçhe dksVZ us lhchvkbZ tkap ds fy, dgk rks lhchvkbZ okyksa ij lYok tqM+e ls geyk djok;k x;kA txny iqj ds vk;qä jkgr lkexzh ysdj x, rks muij Hkh geys djok fn, x,A ets fd ckr gS fd NÙkhlx<+ dh ljdkj cgqr tYnh gkbZdksVZ ds U;k;k/kh'k ls fdlh ?kVuk dh tkap djkus dh ckr eku ysrh gSA fiNys o"kZ dh ?kVukvksa dh tkap ds fy, mUgksus ftl U;k;k/kh'k dks ftEesnkjh lkSaih os mudh ljdkj esa fof/k lfpo jg pqds gSaA lqçhe dksVZ esa Hkh ;g ckr crkbZ tk pqdh gS fd ogka U;kf;d tkap ds D;k fufgrkFkZ gSA bl geys dh Hkh tkap gkbZdksVZ ds tt ls djkus ij ljdkj jkth gks xbZ gSA ;g vk'p;Ztud gS fd tkap ij tgka Hkjkslk gS muij rks geys gksrs gS tgka lansg gS ogka jkT; ljdkj dks Hkjkslk gksrk gSA njvly NÙkhlx<+ esa ftl rjg ls jeu flag dh ljdkj vkfnokfl;ksa ds f[kykQ nq'euksa tSlk O;ogkj dj jgh gS vkSj dsUæ esa ih fpanacje us muds fy[ks dkxt ij viuk gLrk{kj djus dh tks vknr cuk yh gS og lafo/kkuewyd O;oLFkk vkSj Hkkouk dks ekjus dh dksf'k'k gksrh gSA      

                                                            Date: 2-07-2012

PRESS RELEASE

In the first ever cold blooded massacre of 19 poor adivasi boys, girls and men has shocked the whole nation. The fact that this unprovoked mass killing took place under the joint operation command directly under the Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram and Dr. Raman Singh , Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh and carried out by 300 central Reserve Police Force as well as COBRA ( Combined Battalion for Resolute Action ) makes this diabolic mass killing the most sinister ever.

            Immediately after the macabre mass murder, the Union Minister for Home P. Chidambaram and the CRPF  commanders in the field claimed it to be the first ever most successful anti naxal operation. It said that they have killed 17 hard core Maoists and captured two live. Only six of their jawans got injured. Their biggest ever success against Maoists!

            But as I maintained in my statement as early as on 28^th June morning and later corroborated by many independent journalists, it turned out to be a cold blooded mass murder of innocent tribals including their young children.

            The latest to corroborate is the enquiry report by none other then congress party MLA from Konta, Kawasi, Lakma, himself a tribal leader and his ten colleagues. This report has been upheld by Ajeet Jogi ( a tribal former Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh ), Charan Das Mahant Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Nan Kumar Patel, the state Congress party President.

            We demand:-

1.       The ;Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh should take moral responsibility for this gruesome incident, apologise to the AdivasiCommunity in particular and the nation in general and forthwith sack his Home Minister Mr. P. Chidambaram.

2.       Order highest level Judicial Enquiry or a Special Investigators team SIT to be monitored by Supreme Court of India or CVC and not by CBI

3.       Suspend all CRPF & COBRA Jawans involved in the operation and register cases of murder against them including under SC, ST Atrocities Act 1989.

4.       Ex-gratia payment of Rs. 25 lakhs each to the family members of those killed.

5.       Take stringent constitutional steps against Chief Minister Dr. Raman Singh. Being the custodian of tribal welfare President of India, Smt. Pratibha Devi Singh Patil should visit the site of incident and the assure the family members of the victims of speedy justice.

6.       Now that his own Party leaders in Chhattisgarh have categorically maintained it to be a case of Fake Encounter & Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Party General Secretary Rahul Gandhi should visit the bereaved families at the earliest.

7.        Disband now infamous operation Green Hunt

Rajendra Sachar        Brahmadev Sharma      Swami Agnivesh      Himanshu Kumar

अमरनाथ यात्रा के विवादास्पद बयान पर स्वामी अग्निवेश को राहत

अमरनाथ यात्रा के विवादास्पद बयान पर स्वामी अग्निवेश को राहत

POINTS IN CRITIQUE OF JUDGMENT IN AZAD-HEMCHANDRA PANDEY ENCOUNTER WRIT PETITIONS

Supreme Court’s order dated 03.05.2012 dismissing the writ petitions of Hem Chandra Pandey’s widow Bineeta Pandey and Swami Agnivesh should be criticised on the following grounds:

1.      The court failed to appreciate that the Petitioners had from the beginning prayed for an independent judicial enquiry and had opposed the entrustment of the enquiry to the CBI.

2.      Azad was the spokesperson of CPI(Maoist) and was engaged in peace talks with the Home Minister through Swami Agnivesh. Thus, if the alleged encounter was fake then it couldn’t have been carried out without the knowledge and consent of the Home Minister. Ministry of Home Affairs is the cadre controlling authority of IPS officers deputed to CBI therefore it has factual control over the functioning of CBI and can manipulate investigations as has been seen in numerous cases.

3.      When the court entrusted the investigation of the encounter to the CBI it had decided to monitor the investigation. That is the reason the Petitioners did not press further for judicial enquiry at that stage. However, when the CBI filed its final report the court accepted the said report even though the Counsel for the Petitioner pointed out many glaring lacunae in the investigation:-

i.                     The blackening and burnt edges at the entry wound on Azad’s body and the blackening around all the 3 entry wounds on body of Pandey has been explained by an explanation given by the junior doctor Chandraiah who had merely noted down the P.M. report as dictated by Dr. Neelkantheshwar Rao. Dr. Chandraiah explains away the blackening and the burnt edges as due to abrasion/contusion collar. Interestingly, this was the opinion relied upon by the State of Andhra Pradesh in their Counter Affidavit dated 24.03.2011. Neither the Andhra Police, nor the C.B.I. deemed it fit to furnish the opinion of Dr. Neelkantheshwar Rao who had been in charge of the post-mortem examination.

The AIIMS team led by Dr. T.G. Dogra explains the blackening and the burnt edges on the dead bodies as due to “hot bullet” and “friction of spin”.

 The burnt edges on the shirt at the entry hole has been explained as “hot bullet” by the CFSL Hyderabad only on the basis of lack of gun powder residue. It may be noted that the lack of gun powder on the shirts after 18 months of the alleged encounter cannot be made a basis as they could easily have been washed and gunpowder residue removed during this time.

The view of the AIIMS team that the burnt edges and blackening in the shirt and the entry wound could have been caused by friction/ hot bullet is belied every standard textbook of medical jurisprudence. There is no text book of medical jurisprudence which says that burnt edges and blackening can happen in a long range bullet wound of 25 meters as claimed in this case. If “hot bullet” or “friction due to spin” could cause burnt edges in a shirt or skin then surely some standard textbook would have mentioned it. The encounter team used standard self-loading rifle or AK-47. All textbooks say that burnt edges or blackening cannot happen at a distance of more than 4.5 feet i.e. 1.37 metres.

ii.                   It is pertinent to mention here that Dr. T.G. Dogra who was the head of the team from AIIMS which gave the expert opinion to the C.B.I. which is markedly divergent from any standard textbook on forensic science has earlier also given many such controversial reports for example in the Shopian, Ishrat Jahan and Batla House encounter cases. In Shopian case the expert opinion went beyond the post mortem report and plain logic and in Ishrat Jahan case the SIT pointed out that his team “misinterpreted the parameters”, “disregarded the recorded positions of the police officers while firing and relied on the improved position that the police officers showed to the board” and went against the standard texts on mechanical engineering “However, despite SIT's request to them for revisiting their earlier opinion, they evaded the issue.”

iii.                  When the Petitioner objected to Dr. Neelkantheshwar Rao’s statement not being taken by CBI even though he had been in charge of the post-mortem examination the CBI produced an alleged statement under Sec 161 of Dr. Neelkantheshwar Rao in which the first two pages just stated that it was the statement of Dr. Neelkantheshwar Rao, that he had conducted the post mortem examination and dictated the Report to Dr. Chandraiah and described the injuries on the bodies of the two deceased persons. The last page contains the opinion on the injuries beginning with “Dr. Neelkantheshwara Rao and I” and gives the exact same opinion that had earlier been taken from Dr. Chandraiah. It is clear from a bare reading of the said statement that the third and last page has been taken from Dr. Chandraiah’s statement and it is a clear case of forgery. The court did not accept the Petitioner’s counsel’s plea to summon Dr. Rao or at least to view the videotapes of the statements of Dr. Rao and Dr. Chandraiah.

iv.                 CBI has noted that deceased Hem Chandra Pandey had sent an SMS to his boss Avishek Ranjan at 10:03 a.m. on 01.07.2010. This SMS was retrieved from his boss’s mobile set but strangely, lPandey’s mobile phone location disappears after Faridabad on 30th evening at 06:05 p.m.. No call records are available. CBI had no answer as to why if Pandey’s boss received the SMS it was not shown on his call records when SMSs sent prior 06:05 p.m. were being shown. CBI’s counsel merely stated that they had asked for the call records of the later period but Vodafone had refused. This is an untenable argument and understably the court was not satisfied with it during the hearing. It is clear that the some calls or SMS sent or from Pandey’s phone after 06:05 p.m. on 30.06.2010 would have not gone well with the story of a genuine encounter and that is why all the data after then was raised along with the SMS to Pandey’s boss.

v.                   How did the S.P. learn about the presence of Maoists in the Sarkapally Reserve Forest?

a)    The F.I.R says that the S.P. received information from the Special Intelligence Bureau. However, DIG (SIB) denied that S.I.B. provided any such information the CBI also has gone with the story that the intelligence regarding the Maoist party was provided by local intelligence termed as Special Intelligence Police (S.I.P.) and not from S.I.B. Yet, the call records of the S.P. show that in fact 7 calls were made between the S.I.B headquarter in Hyderabad and the S.P’s cell phone in 24 hours and four of these calls were made before any information regarding the Maoist party had allegedly been received by the S.P. What does this furious telephonic activity indicate? The petitioner’s counsel could unearth the identity of only two numbers from these records in one evening and both belonged to S.I.B. There might have been many other calls from S.I.B. and other important agencies if these records had been properly analysed by the CBI.

b)     It is established that late Hem Chandra Pandey travelled by Gondvana Express to Nagpur which reached Nagpur at 10:00 a.m. on 01.07.2010. The forest/place of incident is minimum 4 hours by road i.e. 235 k.m. plus 8 k.m. by foot from Nagpur station, therefore Pandey could not have reached there before 4 p.m. However, the S.P. claims to have been informed by 2:00 p.m. about the exact location. The co-ordinates were mentioned in the operation sheet. Raghunandan Rao, team leader of the team which undertook this operation received phone call from the S.P. at 2:30 p.m. This would also mean that the Maoist party remained at the same place from 2:00 p.m. till 11:00 p.m.

vi.              The three vehicles drop the police part at Lakhimpur near Sarkapally forest and go back. Even after the encounter, no vehicles or reinforcements are sent and the police party is supposed to have spent the night in the forest without even venturing near the site of the dead Maoists. In fact, the S.P. did not even ask the OSD to go to the site immediately but told him to go the next day.

vii.            Cell phone records of S.P., Circle Inspector (C.I.) and OSD had been examined for only after 2:30 p.m. on 01.07.2010 and not before that. It was only after when the Counsel for the Petitioner objected to this after inspection of the report that the CBI produced the Cell phone records of the S.P for the whole of 01.07.2010 nd 02.07.2010. Records of C.I. Rao show that he reached the site of the alleged encounter by 7:23 p.m. and there are no phone calls made to and from this phone between 7:51 p.m. and 11:31 p.m. which is strange since the S.P. claims to have kept in constant touch with him. Curiously, the S.P. calls Rao at 11:31 p.m. immediately after the alleged encounter and not vice-versa.

viii.         Manzoor Ahmad(police officer) called C.I. Rao late at night on 01.07.2010 bu Rao did not inform him about the firing and just asked him to stay alert.

Instead of appreciating the gravity of this case, Home Ministry’s possible complicity and the glaring lacunae in C.B.I’s investigation which were unearthed by the petitioner’s counsel after just a few hours of investigation the court made a grave judgment of error in closing the case and asking the C.B.I. to submit its closure report before the Magistrate. This was a fit case for an independent judicial enquiry or an investigation by S.I.T.