CID begins probe into Kishenji’s death
November 26th, 2011 - 5:33 pm ICT by IANSKolkata, Nov 26 (IANS) West Bengal Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Saturday began a probe into the allegations that senior Maoist leader Mallojula Koteshwar Rao alias Kishenji was killed by the security forces in a staged shootout, a top official said.
“Yes, a probe has been initiated. Whenever any high-profile criminal is killed in an encounter, such allegations do come up. So, we will investigate all the angles to find out if there is any truth behind the allegations,” Deputy Inspector General (CID) K. Jayaraman told IANS.
Telegu revolutionary poet and Maoist sympathiser P. Varavara Rao has alleged that Kishenji was “brutally tortured” in police custody before being killed in a “fake encounter” in the jungles of West Midnapore Thursday.
“He was arrested day before Thursday. They cut him, burnt him, and then pumped bullets into him. There isn’t a single part of his body without an injury. They kept him in custody for 24 hours and tortured him,” Rao alleged.
The slain Maoist leader’s niece Deepa Rao also echoed the views of the poet with whom she had come to the Midnapore Medical College and Hospital in West Midnapore to identify the body and take it back, after the post-mortem examination, to his home in Pedapalli in Karimnagar district of Andhra Pradesh for the last rites.
The Maoists have called for a 48-hour shutdown to protest the death of their leader in a “staged encounter”.
Samajwadi Party leader Mohan Singh has also alleged the gunfight was not genuine.
“The way reports of Kishenji’s killings have come out, it does not look like Kishenji was killed in an encounter…It is a fake encounter,” he said Saturday.
Security agencies have said that Kishenji, a Communist Party of India-Maoist politburo member, died in a firefight Thursday afternoon in West Midnapore district’s Burishole, 10 km from the border with Jharkhand.
Suchitra, widow of Maoist leader Sashadhar Mahato - killed in March in a gun battle with the security forces - was accompanying Kishenji. She is believed to have been injured in the gunfight but managed to escape.
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- Elimination of Kishenji not planned, just happened: Mamata - Mar 09, 2012
- Post Kishenji, security forces hunt for Maoists (Roundup) - Nov 25, 2011
- Kishanji murdered in police custody: Varvara Rao - Nov 25, 2011
- Kishenji eliminated in Didi's regime - an irony? (West Bengal Newsletter) - Nov 27, 2011
- Strands of similarity in Azad, Kishenji killings - Nov 26, 2011
- Kishenji's niece identifies his body - Nov 26, 2011
- Police comb forests, hunt for Kishenji's aides - Nov 25, 2011
- NHRC to collect facts on Kishenji killing - Nov 28, 2011
- Kishenji was given three days to surrender: Mamata - Nov 27, 2011
- Kishenji's family wants his body for last rites - Nov 25, 2011
- CPI-Maoist calls shutdown to protest Kishenji killing - Nov 27, 2011
- Six bullet wounds among 20 injuries on Kishenji's body: Autopsy - Nov 27, 2011
- Congress MP, hundreds attend Kishenji cremation - Nov 27, 2011
- Gunfight in which Kishenji died genuine: CRPF - Nov 25, 2011
Tags: communist party of india, criminal investigation department, criminal investigation department cid, deepa, deputy inspector general, gunfight, jayaraman, last rites, maoist, maoists, midnapore district, mohan singh, mortem examination, police custody, politburo member, revolutionary poet, securi, security agencies, varavara rao, west bengal police