Thiruvananthapuram: There is growing demand for a judicial enquiry into the encounter deaths of four Maoists in the Attappadi hills of Palakkad earlier this week, which most people suspect as a fake encounter.
The Kerala Thunderbolts, an elite commando force of the Kerala Police, gunned down three Maoists when they were inspecting a site deep inside the forest. A fourth activist was killed later in the combing operation.
The issue rocked the state assembly proceedings, where the Leader of the Opposition, Ramesh Chennithala, accused the Pinarayi government of following a policy of annihilation, rather than dealing with the naxals through the due legal process. He said that so far seven Maoist activists have been killed by the police ever since the Pinarayi government assumed office.
The opposition United Democratic Front members demanded that the government institute a judicial inquiry to find out the truth about these encounter deaths.
They assailed the human rights record of the government and accused it of high-handedness in dealing with tribal resistance. They pressed for an adjournment motion to discuss the issue, but the demand was rejected by the chief minister.
The chief minister claimed that the deaths occurred when the Thunderbolt members fired in self-defence as the ultras fired at them and cited the recovery of arms from the Maoists. But the claim has failed to get acceptance as the security forces did not report any injuries suffered by the Thunderbolt members.
In fact, a tribal activist leader has claimed that the Maoists had expressed their willingness to surrender, but the security forces had staged the fake encounter to shoot them.
There have also been allegations that the elite commando force organises these encounters to justify the huge amounts of money spent on them. According to its detractors, the force has to organise these deaths to show results.
