CHENNAI: MDMK general secretary Vaiko called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi after more than a year at New Delhi on Wednesday, demanding a CBI probe into the killing of 20 Tamil Nadu workers by the Andhra Pradesh police in the Seshachalam forest on April 7.
According to an MDMK press release, Modi embraced Vaiko with affection saying “You are an emotional man; fighting for principles”.
Explaining to the PM, Vaiko said “The labourers were brutally tortured and shot dead. Clinching evidence was produced about the massacre before the NHRC, which recommended CBI enquiry to find the truth”.
Accusing the Andhra Pradesh government of taking every effort to cover up and bury the truth, he said it had moved the Hyderabad High Court and secured a stay on the NHRC’s recommendation for a CBI enquiry.
In his memorandum, Vaiko said “There is unassailable evidence to prove that the so called encounter did not take place at all and the poor labourers were cruelly murdered by the special task force. Even for argument sake, if we accept the story of smuggling of red sanders, which is not true, the police have no right to kill the people in a gruesome manner”.
The MDMK leader also recalled his meeting with Modi on May 19 last at Gujarat Bhavan in New Delhi, when Vaiko insisted on linking of peninsular rivers. Modi also shared Vaiko’s concern that enormous amount of water was being let into the sea and assured that the Centre would take measures to link the rivers.