VISAKHAPATNAM: The Human Rights Forum (HRF) and Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Monday demanded criminal prosecution of police personnel involved in the killing of three armed Maoist squad members on June 18, in Rampachodavaram mandal of Alluri Sitarama Raju (ASR) district.
In a press release, the rights groups alleged that the incident was a staged encounter and called for an independent investigation by the CBI or under Supreme Court supervision, stating that local police cannot be trusted as they are directly involved.
HRF and HRW representatives Y Rajesh, VS Krishna, and Balu Akkisa conducted a fact-finding mission in the area on July 18. They said villagers in Vemulakonda, Akuru, and Kintukuru reported no exchange of fire, contradicting police claims that the Greyhounds acted in self-defence.
According to the groups, the slain Maoists, Gajarla Ravi of Telangana, Venkata Ravivarma Chaitanya of Visakhapatnam district, and Kovvasi Anju, an Adivasi from Chhattisgarh, were ambushed near a spring known as ‘Oota Mamidi.’
The rights groups alleged the Greyhounds had precise information and deliberately executed the trio at daybreak.
They said the postmortem was delayed, and the bodies were handed over to families only after media pressure on June 19.
They noted that since January 2024, over 440 Maoists and unarmed Adivasi civilians have been killed in alleged staged encounters in Chhattisgarh. “No democracy that claims to uphold constitutional values can legitimise such a brutal policy of state-sanctioned killings,” they stated.