Visakhapatnam: Confusion prevails over the death of two persons in an encounter with the police late on Friday near Paderu in Visakhapatnam district.
While locals claim that the two were villagers and were in the forest for poaching, Rural SP A. Babujee said that they were working for a dalam.
The police have seized two country-made weapons from the deceased, identified as B. Bushanam, 53, and S. Jamder, 38.
Apparently, the police had received information that the Maoists were planning to destroy the EVM strongroom near Paderu.
Paderu DSP Raj Kamal said, “The Maoists opened fire on sighting the police and a CRPF constable suffered an injury. The dalam members did not stop firing, so the police opened fire. The firing continued for five minutes and then, the Maoists fled into the forests.”
However, the villagers alleged that the police has intentionally killed them. “The scene of the crime was not disturbed, and the dead bodies were sent for post-mortem only after they were identified by the villagers,” the DSP said.
