Tribal women’s collective picks holes in encounter claims
PALAKKAD: The shooting that led to the killing of four persons in Manjikandi forest at Attappadi was a fake encounter and tribals in the area have known many of the alleged CPI (Maoist) members since 2013, K Shivani, vice-president of the Thaikula Sangham, a collective of tribal women, said here on Thursday.
The adivasis are ready to depose before judicial officers if they are asked to, said Shivani, who came along with K Sivakami, a member of the sangham, to Palakkad to meet media persons.
Even on October 27 (Diwali day), the day before the encounter, the Maoists had come to the adivasi houses in the area and collected food, but they did not divulge this out of fear that the police would foist false cases on them, she said.
Fact check
Shivani said the encounter site was full of bamboo bushes. There were no bullet marks on the plants on the first day when people visited the area. “In the video released by the police, some police personnel were seen writing on a pad lying down and others raising their heads. Moreover, it is strange that the person who shot the video did not care about being hit by bullets,” Shivani pointed out.
The local adivasis had said the woman insurgent’s body was in a decomposed state and infested with worms on the second day, October 29. Moreover, on October 27, the day before the encounter allegedly took place, the adivasis had seen a group of 10 to 15 police personnel moving to Manjikandi via Dhanyam ooru. The so-called encounter was planned on October 27, said Shivani.
‘four seen in forest’
Shivani said the four Maoists, who had been seen in Attappadi since 2013-14, were Manivasakam, Sreemathi who now has a child, Aravind and Savithri. “They used to wander in the kurumba oorus of Pudur panchayat. Police also knew about their presence but since they did not harm anyone, they were left untouched. They also did not carry weapons with them when they came to ask for rice or clothes from adivasis.” They also used to give money and send adivasi children to shops to buy provisions on occasions. She said the tribals had seen Manivasakam and Arvind, but the other two persons claimed to have been killed in the encounter, Karthi and Rema, had not been seen in Attappadi in the past. Even one Suresh whose name was doing the rounds initially had also not been seen in the area.