Cops acted in self-defence,says Ker CM on gunning down Maoists

Dismissing opposition allegations that it was a fake encounter, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday justified the police action which resulted in the death of four Maoists at Attapady in Palakkad district, saying the shootout was in self-defence. No one will be killed just because they are Maoist and the government will examine whether there were any lapses in the matter, Vijayan told the state assembly.

Taking a serious view of the incident,the Kerala State Human Rights Commission issued notice to the state DGP, asking him to conduct a probe and submit a report within two weeks. Voicing concern over the killing, CPI, a major partner in the ruling LDF, sought a magisterial inquiry.

Instead of killing them the maoists should have been captured alive to face justice, CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran said. Vijayan said in the assembly maoists from other states were trying to infiltrate Kerala and expand their activities in the western ghats.

"The maoists who got trained from other states are trying to infiltrate Kerala and disrupt the peaceful atmosphere here. The Thunderbolt (elite commando force) team were patrolling the area when the maoists fired at them and it resulted in this unfortunate incident," Vijayan told the Assembly.

He was replying to a notice for an adjournment motion moved by the opposition seeking an independent probe into the incident. Vijayan said "We are well aware that a government will not be able to destroy an idea through oppression.

But it is the responsibility of the government to enforce necessary law and order against those forces which do not have a base in the state but tries to disrupt the democratic fabric of Kerala." Police identified the four maoists who were gunned down as Karthi, Rema, Aravind and Manivasagan. They said the ultras were killed during an exchange of fire which was started by the ultras.

However, tribal leaders, who acted as messengers to broker a deal for their surrender, claimed that it was a pre-planned attack by the police. Kuppuswamy Devaraj, 65, and Ajitha, 45, were killed in an alleged encounter with police in Nilambur forests on November 24, 2016.In March this year, a maoist leader C P Jaleel was shot dead at a resort near Vythiri in Wayanad.

With the recent killings, the total number of maoists killed since 2016 has gone up to seven. Dismissing the allegations of N Shamsudheen (IUML) who had moved the notice saying the government was shooting and killing maoists instead of capturing them or forcing them to surrender, Vijayan said "The opposition is giving them an image overhaul." "If it was an encounter, then why none of the policemen were injured? I am not saying our men in the force need to get hurt but in this case, the Thunderbolt personnel was shooting to kill instead of the standard operating procedure of shooting at the legs," Shamsudeen said.

Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala pointed out that seven maoists have been killed since the Left government came to power. He alleged that the Chief Minister read out a police version of the encounter in the Assembly and termed the killing as extra-judicial.

"The party which wants to abolish the death penalty just supports such extra-judicial killings," Chennithala said. He said the opposition understands that the Nilambur killing occurred as the maoists fired at the police.

"But it seems like Jaleel was shot from behind.It was cold-blooded murder. This seems like an act of some officer who wants some plum posting in the centre cadre," Chennithala said. During the previous UDF rule, two maoists, Roopesh and Shina, were captured and were not killed.

"We never killed anyone when we were in power. Those two maoists have even written a letter to me saying how well behaved was the police after their capture. I had given specific instruction that they must be considered as political prisoners," Chennithala, who was the Home Minister in the previous UDF government, told the House.

Even though the Speaker refused to allow notice for an adjournment motion, the opposition marked its protest but did not stage any walkout..

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)