Maoist encounter: Tumultuous scenes at mortuary

KOZHIKODE: With human rights defenders and sympathisers of pro-Maoist groups gathering in front of the morgue at Medical College Hospital where the post-mortem of the two Maoists held and a large posse of police stationing around, there was tension in the air on Saturday. The relatives of Kuppu Devaraj including his mother Ammini were waiting there from the morning.  Police was ready to face any protest. More than officers in uniform, plainclothesmen roamed around.

The postmortem started late as doctors have to complete formalities. The three-member team who conducted postmortem was headed by Dr Prasannan K., department of forensic medicine. By 11 am the kith and kin including brother, sisters and mother had a chance to see the body of Mr Devaraj. When the wailing mother and sisters returned sympathisers and rights activists started shouting slogans against the police who took them into custody and removed.

Police did not spare even the aged activists like M.N. Ravunni and Grow Vasu. They were pushed into the police van. Mr Vasu was later admitted to a hospital as he developed chest pain. Though there was an attempt to pull away a reporter of a news channel into a police van, he was released when reporters protested. Later in the evening police released all the activists except Mr Ravunni, wanted in connection with a case in Thalappuzha in Wayanad.

Kin refuses to receive body

The kith and kin of Kuppu Devaraj and human rights activists refused to receive bodies of Maoists Kuppu Devaraj and Ajitha expressing doubts over the police claim that it was an encounter killing. They suspected a ‘cold-blooded murder’ and that the police also violated the procedures while conducting the inquest. In a letter to RDO, Perinthalmanna, Malappuram, sent through DySP Tirur A.J. Babu, Devaraj's brother Sreedharan demanded to preserve the body till Monday for the postmortem report to be ready, which the officials obliged. In his letter, he said his brother was killed in an alleged encounter.

“I along with my sisters was permitted to see the dead body kept at the Calicut Medical College Hospital mortuary before the post mortem. On seeing the body I am having serious doubts,” he said. “I suspect it was a cold blooded murder committed by police.” Mr Sreedharan also said that he suspected it as a murder in custody. Human rights activists also demanded a fresh inquest by a judicial magistrate, not by an executive magistrate, as in this case.

The procedure prescribed in CrPC was not followed here, making the postmortem illegal and untenable, they said. Meanwhile, RMP leader K.K. Rema told reporters that under chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan those who raised protest would be killed and those who shout slogans would be arrested. Ms Rema also demanded an impartial judicial inquiry into the killings.   Human rights activists Thushar Nirmal Sarathy and Grow Vasu also demanded a judicial inquiry.