The killing of top Maoist leader Kishenji raised a controversy on Friday with his supporters and some political parties alleging he was eliminated in a fake encounter, a charge denied by CRPF.
Telugu poet and Maoist sympathiser Varvara Rao alleged Kishenji was tortured before being killed in a fake encounter and demanded a white paper from the West Bengal government.
“Kishenji was subjected to inhuman torture as his body bore marks of several injuries and he was killed in a fake encounter 24 hours after being nabbed. I demand a white paper,” Rao said in Hyderabad.
Talking to the media at Peddapalli in Andhra Pradesh, Anjaneyulu, elder brother of Kishenji, too maintained the killing was result of a conspiracy hatched by the West Bengal and Central governments.
MP Gurudas Dasgupta, CPI also alleged the Maoist was killed in a fake encounter and urged the home minister P Chidambaram to probe it.
Rejecting the allegation, CRPF Director-General Vijay Kumar said Kishenji was killed in a “very clean and successful” operation by the joint forces in West Midnapore district.
“It was a very clean and successful operation and our boys did not waste a minute,” Kumar said in Burisole forest in Jhargram area where Kishenji was killed. “No, no, no” he said on the allegation that Kishenji was eliminated in a fake encounter. Rao said Kishenji’s niece Deepa Rao had arrived with him from Peddapalli and should be allowed to identify the body. “Kishenji’s mother is very old and a cancer patient. She wants to see her son. Kishenji’s body should be brought to Kolkata for preservation and sent to Hyderabad.
“The body should be handed over to the family with due honour as he was a political worker,” he said, acknowledging that CM Mamata Banerjee had announced that Kishenji’s last rites would be performed with honour.
“The Andhra Pradesh government killed many Maoists in this way, but at least it conducted the post-mortem complying with NHRC norms. Azad’s body (another Maoist killed in encounter few years ago) was sent to his Delhi residence,” Rao said.
The West Bengal Government has conveyed to the Varvara Rao that Kishenji’s body would be handed over to Deepa. Also, government sources said both state and para-military authorities have decided all identification process will take place in Midnapore medical college and body would not be taken out of district unless it is over.
Meanwhile, the joint forces are carrying out a massive combing operation in and around Burisole jungle and villages where Kishenji was killed. — With Agency inputs
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