"How could local police conduct investigation?" the court reportedly asked.
The Hyderabad High Court on Friday sought to know if Andhra Pradesh Police have registered a case of unnatural death in connection with the killing of 20 people in a police operation in Chittoor district. Additional Advocate General (AAG) D Srinivas submitted before the court that a magisterial inquiry is underway into the April 7 operation as per guidelines of the Supreme Court.
The AAG earlier filed a report of police before the court containing the details of 2 FIRs and identification of the bodies, their post-mortem besides names of relatives to whom they were handed over. The AAG then informed the court that National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued notices on the matter.
"NHRC is seized of the matter...why should we look into that when there is initiation of NHRC proceedings," the court noted, according of AAG.
The HC further observed that when the matter is under investigation it did not wish to comment on whether it is "death or killings", the AAG said.
Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee (APCLC) General Secretary C Chandrasekhar, in a writ petition filed in the HC earlier, had alleged that it was a case of "murder" and the victims were poor labourers from Tamil Nadu.
"It was a cold-blooded murder of 20 poor labourers from Tamil Nadu," alleged the petitioner who sought directions for registration of an FIR under IPC Section 302 (murder) against the policemen involved in the operation besides seeking a CBI probe.
The petitioner's counsel, V Raghunath, said the High Court, after going through the two FIRs, felt unhappy and sought to know from the government whether or not a case of unnatural offence was registered and asked how could police file a case against the dead persons. The Court asked who is the Investigating Officer. When it was informed that the local police are investigating, the court said it is a serious issue as two states (AP and Tamil Nadu) are involved.
"How could local police conduct investigation?" the court asked, according to Raghunath. Following this, the AAG sought time to make further submissions and the court posted the matter to April 13.
Twenty people were gunned down in Seshachalam hill ranges of Chittoor in an operation police described as an action against red sanders smugglers. The AP police operation has come under severe attack from government and political parties in neighbouring Tamil Nadu from where the deceased hailed. Parties in Tamil Nadu and human rights groups have raised questions about the veracity of claims made by Andhra Police.
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