Ex-top cops back police, say victims are not so innocent
‘These labourers are part of the racket, they work like foot soldiers for smugglers’
Hyderabad: “Red sanders is a protected species and property of the government. These labourers are part of the racket. They work like foot soldiers for smugglers. These are the same people who killed three foresters. It says that they are capable of killing. While it is difficult to justify killing 20 people, these are not innocent,” said M.V. Krishna Rao, the former director-general of Sashastra Seema Bal.
MBT leader Amjedullah Khan said, “The encounter is a revenge by the TS police. The cops selectively killed five terror suspects. The contention of the police was invalid that they failed to overpower a handcuffed suspect who tried to snatch a weapon from a cop. They were facing trials in different cases and their involvement or innocence should have been decided by court. By killing them, the TS police sent a wrong message.”
Former DGP Swaranjit Sen, denying the allegation that the cops were trigger-happy, said, “AP police personnel did their duty and even stone-pelting can kill people.”