Top Indian Maoist Leader Killed in fake encounter by Secuirty officials

Friday, 28 July 2006

Madhav was carrying $21,000 price on his head

Vishav Bharti, Ohmynews.com, 2006-07-26

The Maoists in Andhra Pradesh, India suffered a major setback on Sunday when state secretary of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), Madhav, a.k.a., Srisailam, was killed in a police encounter along with seven others in the deep Nalamala forests.

While talking to the media, the Director General of Police, Swarnjit Sen, revealed that acting on information from the intelligence agencies that the Maoists were holding an important meeting in the Nalamala forests, several hundred policemen were mobilized and combed operations were intensified.

According to a news report on a national news channel, a greyhound (an anti-Maoist wing of the police) team searching Nekkantipenta area chanced upon some activity near Davaboyinapenta at 10 a.m. on Sunday. It opened fire and the Maoists retaliated. The exchange of fire continued for an hour, and after that the Maoists retreated.

After the encounter, while searching the area the greyhound team found eight bodies lying scattered, five of them women. The news channel broadcast added that about 35 Maoists, including some important leaders, were believed to have been present at the meeting when the policemen cornered them.

After the encounter while identifying the dead bodies, a police party recognized the body of Madhav (48) with the help of a surrendered Maoist. Madhav joined the extremist movement three decades ago. He spent most of his life doing underground activities for the Maoists. He never came back to his home after he initially left.

The killing of Madhav is been considered as a huge setback to the extremist movement in Andhra Pradesh. He was carrying a reward of US$21,370 on his head.

While talking to reporters, revolutionary writer Varavara Rao claimed police had killed Madhav in cold blood after catching him injured.

Chief Minister R.S. Reddy appealed to the Maoists to surrender their arms and join the mainstream. He further rejected allegations that Maoists were killed in a faked battle.

The home minister of state announced a decision to provide education and a government job for the son of the slain Maoist leader, and he invited his relatives in visit the secretariat. Celebrated balladeer Gaddar, who accompanied them, was refused entry.

India should ratify all UN conventions: People’s Watch

Saturday, 24 June 2006

CUDDALORE: Until India ratifies all the UN conventions; the country cannot field any candidate for any post in the world body including that of the secretary general, according to executive director, People’s Watch, Henri Tiphange.

Addressing a function organised to felicitate artists who took part in a 20-day awareness rally on torture across the State here on Friday, he said the country’s nominee Shasi Tharoor, who is contesting for the post of UN Secretary General, would not succeed.

‘‘Fielding Tharoor would be futile attempt until the Central Government ratifies all the conventions. Ratification of all the conventions is an important qualification for a country to field its candidate for any post,’’ he said.

The country had not ratified conventions such as the UN Convention against Torture and Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, UN Optional Protocol to Convention Against Torture and UN Optional Protocol to the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, Tiphange said, adding that states, including West Bengal, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, were all set to introduce the National Plan Against Torture.

He urged the government to implement guidelines on the procedure for making arrests laid down by the Supreme Court in the DK Basu vs State of West Bengal case and order a fresh probe into the death of brigand Veerappan.

He also called upon the Union Government to revamp the National Human Rights Commission and State Human Rights Commissions and arm them with more powers.

Currently, four posts were vacant in the State Human Rights Commission in Tamil Nadu. Among the 138 member countries of the United Nations, 56 had signed the International Convention against Torture. However, they had not ratified the convention and as a result torture had not been declared as a criminal offence.

Tiphanage further said torture was the worst form of human rights violation since it robbed the victim of his/her dignity.

He said NGOs had been engaged in creating awareness among the people by undertaking ‘cultural yatras’ across the State.

This year, the yatra was held between June 2 and 22, in which more than 100 artists participated. The rally passed through 31 districts in two states and more than 500 shows were performed. Nearly six lakh people watched the events.

Five teams that had started from different places, as part of the yatra reached the coastal town on Friday morning.

The participants enacted street plays, skits, dramas, folk songs, etc, on the various forms of torture, including atrocities against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, women, students, dowry harassment and custodial torture.

The artists would take participate in a ‘cultural night’ to be held at Manjakuppam grounds here on Saturday.

NHRC notice to Delhi police on in-custody-torture of 5 children

Saturday, 24 June 2006

NEW DELHI: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Friday issued notice to Delhi police on a complaint that five children were allegedly implicated in a false case under pressure from a Rajya Sabha MP and subjected to torture by police.

The NHRC had received a complaint that five children, all below 12 years, were picked up by police in Vasant Vihar in South Delhi on June 16, lodged in jail and produced before the metropolitan magistrate the next day, the commission said in a release.

According to the petition, these children were picked up on the complaint of Rajya Sabha MP Dr Mahender Prasad Singh and his chowkidar.

The petitioner alleged that in the prison the children were not provided food and under pressure from the MP, were implicated in a false case under Section 379/511 IPC and subjected to cruelty and beating.

The complainant sought an independent inquiry and action against the guilty police personnel for detention and torture in custody and compensation for the victims.

The commission, after going through the contents of the case, sought information and report from the commissioner of police within four weeks from the date of receipt of the notice. -- PTI

http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEL20060623151647

Suspense continues over fate of Maoist leader

Friday, 23 June 2006

By Indo Asian News Service

Hyderabad, June 22 (IANS) Suspense over the fate of top Maoist leader Sudhakar continues with Andhra Pradesh Police disputing the claim of rebel sympathisers that he was in their custody even as a guerrilla was killed Thursday.

Claiming that Sudhakar was in the custody of Vizianagaram police, Maoist sympathisers and human rights groups have urged the government to produce him in court. Police, however, maintain they have not arrested Sudhakar.

Sudhakar is the Communist Party of India-Maoist's Andhra-Orissa Border Special Zonal Committee secretary.

Police said they arrested one person Wednesday after a gun battle in Makuva police limits in Vizianagarm near the Andhra-Orissa border. While Maoist sympathisers claimed that the man was none other than Sudhakar, police said he was not the top Maoist leader.

Police claimed to have arrested from the area Sudhakar's uncle K. Krishna Murthy, an assistant engineer with the state-owned electricity transmission corporation, and his wife K. Uma Devi. They were allegedly working as informers for Maoists.

Revolutionary balladeer Gaddar, writer Kalyan Rao and rights activists met Home Minister K. Jana Reddy and urged him to direct police to immediately produce Sudhakar in court. They alleged he was arrested and tortured by police and could be eliminated any time.

'If Sudhakar is harmed, the government will be responsible for it,' said Gaddar.

Sudhakar was one of the three CPI-Maoist leaders who had participated in the first direct talks with the government in October 2004. He along with two leaders had come out of their hideouts in the jungle for the talks with three ministers. The meetings, however, failed and the eight-month-long ceasefire collapsed in January last year.

Rights groups fear that Sudhakar might be eliminated the way Communist Party of India-Marxist Leninist (CPI-ML) Janashakti state committee member Riyaz was arrested and killed allegedly in cold blood by police.

Riyaz, who had also participated in peace talks, was killed along with three other guerrillas in an alleged gun battle with police in Karimnagar district in June last year.

Meanwhile, CPI-Maoists continued to receive setbacks. Three Maoists were gunned down by police within 24 hours.

In the latest incident in Adilabad district, an action committee member of the outfit, T. Ravi, was gunned down in the forests of Mandamarri early Thursday.

CPI-Maoist Khammam district committee secretary Jagdish and his wife Vangara Rajakka were also killed in a gun battle in Khammam district.

Seven guerrillas have been killed in various parts of the state since Friday when top Maoist leader Mattam Ravikumar was gunned down by police in Praksam district. He was considered an intellectual involved in policy-making.

More than 300 people, the majority of them guerrillas, have been killed since January last year when the eight-month long ceasefire collapsed. Maoist violence in the state has claimed more than 6,000 lives.

The Maoists claim to be fighting for the poor and farmers in villages. They target landlords and the police, who are accused of protecting the rich.

Copyright Indo-Asian News Service

Army men accused of thrashing railway constable

Monday, 19 June 2006

CCTV system at station captures the shocking incident

HYDERABAD: A group of persons, suspected to be army jawans, assaulted a railway constable after one of them had an argument with him over parking a two-wheeler at the Secunderabad railway station on Sunday. Visuals captured on the CCTV system of the station showed the unidentified men showering blows on the constable, one of them even leaping in the air and kicking him indiscriminately.

Trouble began when Railway Protection Special Force (RPSF) constable M. Govinda Rajulu, posted near the railway station building's portico, objected to the suspected army jawan parking his two-wheeler in front of the entrance. This led to an argument between the vehicle rider and the constable.

"The vehicle rider claimed he was a military man and asked the constable that he be allowed to park the vehicle," Gopalapuram Inspector Mohd. Ismail said.

Heated argument

After arguing in vain, the military man left the place on his vehicle only to return with a group of eight persons, believed to be his colleagues. As soon as they arrived, they entered into a heated argument with the constable. "The constable said one of them called up one Subhash Naik working in the Movements Control Room belonging to the military from his mobile and spoke for a few minutes while others encircled the constable and continued to argue," the Inspector said.

The group suddenly grabbedhis lathi and began beating him up even as passers-by watched.

Case booked

"They slapped, kicked, showered blows and one even hit me with a helmet. They left only after I fell on the ground," the police quoted the constable as saying.

A case under Sections 332 (attacking public servant on duty), 323 (assault) and 143 (unlawful assembly) of IPC was booked against the unidentified military men. "We are speaking to military officials to ascertain the identity of the persons involved in the attack," Mr. Ismail said

http://www.hindu.com/2006/06/19/stories/2006061921020100.htm

Probe demanded into shootout at RSS headquarters

New Delhi | June 18, 2006

A group of human rights organisations have demanded a probe into the police shootout that killed three suspected terrorists who were apparently planning to attack the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) headquarters in Nagpur June 1.

The three, suspected to be part of Lashkar-e-Taiba, were killed in a gun battle with police at dawn, minutes after they rammed through the rear barricade of the RSS headquarters, apparently with an intension to blow it up.

The rights organisations, however, doubt the police version of the event.

"The narrative of the whole encounter, instead of clearing the mystery of the attackers, confounded the citizens all the more. The reports were conflicting and left innumerable questions on the ground-zero situation unanswered," says the report of a fact-finding team.

The exercise, organised by the People's Union for Civil Liberties, Nagpur, and four other organisations, was led by B.G. Kolse Patil, former judge of the Mumbai High Court.

The report alleges that police had a rehearsal of the shootout on the same spot a few days before the incident. "The police even fired in air on the occasion, local residents say," it notes.

"When police had prior information about a possible attack on the RSS headquarters and they were prepared to handle it, why did they allow the attackers to go close to the headquarters?"

The report also points out that there is no eyewitness to the gun battle which took place at 4.15 a.m. "The bodies of the assailants were removed even before the press reporters, who were the first people other than police to reach the spot, arrived there at about 5 a.m.," it says.

Police maintained that when an ambassador car with a red beacon atop moved towards the RSS headquarters, one of the constables in a Tata Sumo vehicle "casually" asked the young occupants about their intentions. Immediately, the alleged militants opened fire on the police vehicle even as they tried to get away

"For the constable to ask casually, either he must have brought his car (the police vehicle) beside the terrorists' vehicle or come by foot close to it. How did the constable escape unhurt? The narration of the incident does not have any detail to clarify this," the report says.

That the terrorists battled for 20 minutes "hopelessly" not using any of their arms "is a narration that fails to convince common sense," it adds.

It also criticises authorities for declaring the terrorists as "Islamic" and Pakistan-based "fidayeen".

"The stated seizure of a diary containing all their names and telephone numbers sounds farce. Terrorists on a deadly mission carrying a diary with their own identities defies common sense." (IANS)

http://news.webindia123.com/news/Articles/India/20060618/366527.html

Police shoot dead two men after tiff in Patna temple

Tuesday, 13 June 2006

Patna:

Two young men were shot dead by police in a temple in Patna after a reported tiff during a marriage ceremony, triggering angry reactions from locals over the unprovoked killing.

According to witnesses, the police were in an inebriated condition when they shot dead Manoj Kumar, the brother of the bride, after a heated exchange and another man who came to intervene in the dispute at the Sitla temple in the Agamkuan area here late Monday.

Manoj and his friends had apparently invited the wrath of the police for daring to question their highhandedness and behaviour. He was shot dead just before the final rituals of his sister's wedding.

"Both were killed like dreaded criminals. They were innocent youths," said Manoj's father.

Family members, relatives and witnesses told IANS that the four policemen on duty at the temple were drunk. "They were so drunk that they opened fire and killed the two young men as they would criminals - one after another in a span of a few minutes - for no fault," said Sunil Kumar, a witness.

Soon after the incident, people in large numbers gathered at the temple, blocked the roads and shouted slogans against the police and the administration. "There has been tension in the area since late Monday, but it is under control.

Police are investigating the case," said a police official.The angry people said they would protest again Tuesday. They allege that police were trying to hush up the case and give it a different colour to suppress the facts. Police officials told the people that the killing was the result of a clash between two gangs. The four policemen involved in the killing have been taken into custody and lodged in the Alamganj police station, police said.

The district administration is yet to order a probe into the killing.

BSF DIG arrested for involving in Sex scandal in Kashmir, sent to jail

Thursday, 08 June 2006

Srinagar, June 7: BSF Deputy Inspector General of Police K S Padhi, allegedly involved in the sex scandal in the Valley, surrendered before the CBI and was sent to jail

Padhi, who approached the CBI camp office in the morning, surrendered after which he was placed under arrest, agency sources said.

The scandal which rocked Kashmir Valley was first reported by The Indian Express, in which many top level officials and politicians were involved.

He will be produced before a designated court after which a Test Identification Parade before the victim, would be done. The minor girl has named Padhi as one of the 11 persons who allegedly raped her.

Additional Advocate General Anil Sethi is also facing an arrest warrant by Chief Judicial Magistrate, Srinagar, in connection with the scandal.

On Tuesday, Padhi appeared before the registrar of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court that directed him to surrender to the Chief Judicial Magistrate or the CBI.

http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=68865