NEW DELHI: The CBI Friday told the Supreme Court that the gun battle in which Maoist leader Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad and freelance journalist H.C. Pandey were killed was genuine.
The CBI said this in its final report submitted to the court on its investigation into the killing of Azad and Pandey.
Perusing through the report, the apex court bench headed by Justice Aftab Alam expressed their satisfaction and described it as a painstaking work.
The court allowed counsel Prashant Bhushan, who had appeared for the petitioner to inspect the report, but declined to give him a copy of the same. The court asked him not to reveal the names of the officials mentioned in the report for security reasons.
The matter will come up for further hearing on April 13.
Azad was killed at close range with a handgun July 1, 2010 at Adilabad, Andhra Pradesh.