Police search slain Delhi scribe's residence killed with Maoist Azad

Police conducted searches at the residence of slain journalist Hem Chandra Pandey, who was killed along with top Maoist Azad, even as his wife alleged that it was part of a "malicious propaganda" to divert the probe into the alleged "fake" encounter.

Armed with a court order, Andhra Pradesh police and their Delhi counterparts yesterday searched the A-96, Shastri Nagar house, which Pandey and his wife Babita had taken on rent.

Pandey was killed along with CPI (Maoist) spokesperson Azad in July this year in an encounter in Andhra Pradesh's Adilabad. His family and friends had alleged that he was killed in a fake encounter.

Police sources claimed they seized some Maoist literature and some letters and articles, besides books. His wife Babita alleged that the materials were planted by the police.

"The AP police is doing all sorts of malicious propaganda to desperately hide the fact that they had killed my husband in a fake encounter. Instead of conducting a judicial probe in the matter, they are regularly trying to harass me," Babita told reporters here.

She also claimed that she had given her address to Andhra Pradesh police but they did not contact her before conducting the searches.

"The claim that there were secret documents in my house is completely baseless. I strongly feel that the police are making up these stories in order to divert attention from the demand for a judicial probe," she said.