By TCN News,
Hyderabad: Popular Front of India (PFI) has claimed that it believes that the five under trial prisoners who were unarmed, in handcuffs and under heavy escort were shot dead by the police as revenge killing in Telangana and the Seshachalam killings were not the result of the STF resorting to the firing in the face of a serious threat to them from red-sanders smugglers but because the police shot to kill without sufficient threat.
“We recall that last year the STF shot dead 11 persons (five in Kadapa district and six in Chittoor district) in several fake encounters in the Seshachalam forest. In all those cases, they took the extra-judicial option even though in most of them they could have easily apprehended those who were cutting down the red-sanders,” Syed Moinuddin, general secretary, state ad-hoc committee, PFI, Telangana state, said in a release.
Five under-trials were gunned down near Alair while they were being taken to the Nampally Court from Warangal jail. As per the version of the police, Viqaruddin Ahmed, one of the under-trial has requested to stop the escort to attend the nature’s call and while returning into the vehicle he tried to snatch the weapon from the police constable and the other four under trials also try to snatch the weapons to which the police personnel resorted to open fire killing all the five under trials. These five under-trials were being brought under S1 category security which comprises of 18 police personnel and all the under-trials were handcuffed to the police vehicle. “If the police version is to be believed then it is very hard to believe that police is not in a situation to control the chained under-trials. It is to be noticed that the trial was coming to an end and there are high possibilities of being acquittal by the court,” it said on Sunday.
“We demand the government of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh that the police personnel who participated in the alleged encounters on the Warangal-Nalgonda border in Telangana and the Seshachalam forest near Tirupati in Chittoor district of AP resulting in the death of 25 persons be booked under IPC 302 (murder) and other appropriate sections and criminally prosecuted,” Moinuddin said.
“The criminal investigation into both the cases must be handed over to the CBI or a judicial enquiry by a high court sitting judge should be ordered. Forming of an SIT with heads of the police department will turnout helping the police personals only,” he added.
The PFI, Telangana unit also submitted a memorandum demanding judicial inquiry to the Governor of Telangana on April 18. “The Constitution of India has well classified the roles of judiciary and executive. The police department has entrusted with the responsibility to maintain law and order in the society and bring the suspected law offenders before the judiciary. The judiciaries have the right to interpret and apply the law and punish the law offenders. But the raising of the extra judicial killings illustrates that the police department no longer has belief in the court of law and working against the principals of the Constitution. Extrajudicial killings are blot on the Judicial System of India and constituent of India at large,” the memorandum to the Governor – copy of which was released to the media – said.
“The PFI, through this memorandum, demands you to order judicial enquiry by a high court sitting judge in both the cases. Even though an SIT headed by heads of the police department has been ordered by the Telangana state, but it will turnout helping the police personals only. The criminal investigation into both the cases must be handed over to the CBI,” Mohammed Abdul Ahad, president, PFI’s state ad-hoc committee, said in the memorandum.