Magisterial inquiry ordered in killing of 40 Maoists in Gadchiroli district

district administration of Gadchiroli ordered two separate magisterial inquiries into the encounters of Rela-Kasnasur and Nainer jungle between the security forces and the suspected Maoists in south Gadchiroli in which 40 rebels were killed.

The C-60, an elite anti-Naxalite squad of the district scripted history by eliminating 34 rebels in Rela-Kasnasur encounter alone — the highest ever since the leftextremism problem cropped up.

Six Maoists were killed in Nainer jungle near Jimalgatta on April 23 and a total 18 more bodies were recovered from Indravati river near Rela-Kasnasur jungle in the same region where 16 rebels had died in an operation by security forces on April 22.

Gadchiroli superintendent of police Dr Abhinav Deshmukh said searches in Indravati river has been discontinued but will resume with the help of the forest department soon. The district police had engaged boats and magnets to search for bodies and weapons. “The chances of finding bodies are quite less now but weapons might still be there,” the SP said, and added that forces are wary about conducting searches in the river due to the presence of four crocodiles on the stretch.

The police have received the post-mortem reports of 10 bodies. “The report says some deaths occurred due to multiple organ failure following the bullet injuries and some due to drowning.”

However, several people, particularly civil rights activists, questioned the authenticity of the encounter as not a single jawan was injured in both the encounters and dubbed them as “fake” and a “one-sided massacre”.

The CPI (ML), Liberation had demanded an impartial judicial inquiry while noted Telugu poet and civil rights activist, Varavara Rao demanded a judicial inquiry with either a sitting or a retired Supreme Court judge. Gadchiroli district collector Shekhar Singh has ordered magisterial inquiries into the encounters under the provisions of CrPC Section 176.

NAGPUR:The