THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CPI has scanned the forests to give the lie to the police claims that the four Maoists were killed in an encounter. CPI state assistant secretary Prakash Babu, who led a party delegation to Attappadi, has a startling revelation: “Manivasakam, the fourth Maoist was not killed in an encounter, as claimed by the Thunderbolt. Going by the information we got, he was killed in custody. It is evident that it was a fake encounter. The visuals released by the force are also fake,” he told Express in an interview.
The excerpts:
Q: Why do you say Manivasakam died in custody?
A: Going by what the tribals who were present in the region say, we are sure that he was not killed in encounter. Manivasakam had two bullet wounds - one on his back and another on his forehead. He also had injuries on his body, especially on the leg. It is a clear indication of torture in custody.
Q: The police have released visuals to prove that the encounter was real?
A: If you look closely at the visuals, you see that a few of the policemen are lying sideways. It is clear that the visuals of the encounter are stagemanaged. Puthoor panchayat member Ponnuswamy, with whom we spoke, was present when the inquest was being carried out. He said firing was heard some metres away from the hill-top. They were asked to lie down on the ground. They don’t believe the police version that the Maoists were carrying AK 47s. While inside the forest, they used to come across Maoists. They were seen carrying old guns, not AK 47s or any such weapon.
Q: Can you describe the actual place where this has reportedly occurred?
A: We went to the place inside the Manjikandi forest where the inquest was carried out. It is evident that the Maoists were having rice and some kind of meat when they were killed. When we reached the place, there was a nasty smell in the atmosphere - a combination of blood, decayed meat and other things. All these were splashed across the ground.
Curiously, according to those who accompanied us, there were no bullet marks on trees on the day of inquest. But yesterday, when we reached the spot, there were marks on trees and bamboos. There were many armed personnel deployed in the region. On our way to the site, we saw them coming out. We spoke to a number of tribal people and local residents there, including hamlet chief Koya Mooppan, Puthoor panchayat president Jyothi, member Ponnuswami, and others residing at the hamlet in Manjakandi forest.
Q: What was their version of the incident?
A: We asked them whether they had faced any harassment from the Maoists. But said never. The Maoists tried to make them aware of the government schemes for tribes people. There was never a negative approach.
Q: What’s the next step for the CPI delegation?
A: We will submit our findings and recommendations to the party leadership in a day or two. We feel that the government should withdraw the Thunderbolt from Attappadi. The report will be finalised after discussions between other members of the delegation - P Prasad, MLAs E K Vijayan and Mohammed Mohsin.