SRIKAKULAM: Even six days after a major encounter in the Abujhmad forest region of Chhattisgarh, authorities have yet to hand over the bodies of slain Maoists to their families.
While Nambala Keshava Rao’s younger brother Ram Prasad is in Narayanapur, working to secure the body, unconfirmed reports circulated on social media claiming the cremation of the slain Maoist leader and Sajja Nageswara Rao’s bodies by the Chhattisgarh police.
Speaking to TNIE, Ram Prasad and his advocates representing in the AP High Court have refuted these claims. They confirmed filing writ and contempt petitions in the High Court demanding implementation of its earlier orders for the body release. Notices have been served to the Chief Secretary, DGP, and Bastar Range IG of Chhattisgarh. The petitions will be heard on Thursday.
Srikakulam SP KV Maheswara Reddy confirmed to TNIE that he has yet to receive official information about the cremation. Meanwhile, agitation demanding the release of Maoist leader Nambala Keshava Rao’s body intensified on Monday.
At Boddapdu village in Palasa mandal, members of the Amaraveerula Bandhumithrula Samithi, CPI (ML) New Democracy, and CPI (ML) JanaSakti staged protests demanding the return of Keshava Rao’s and others’ bodies, in accordance with AP High Court orders.
Former MLA Gummadi Narsayya criticised the BJP-led NDA governments at the Centre and Chhattisgarh for indiscriminate killings in the name of encounters and questioned their hesitation in releasing the bodies. CPI (ML) New Democracy leaders submitted a memorandum to the Additional SP in Srikakulam, urging police to avoid obstructing the handover of Keshava Rao’s body. In Visakhapatnam, representatives of various people’s and Left organisations condemned the politicisation of the issue and called for the immediate release of the bodies.