A day after members of the Special Task Force of the Andhra Pradesh police shot dead 20 people, claiming that they fired in self-defence, many questions remain unanswered.
Twenty woodcutters, whom the police claim were smugglers, were shot dead in the Seshachalam forests a few kilometres from Tirupati in Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh. After the encounter, it was revealed that 12 of those shot were daily wage labourers hailing from Tamil Nadu.
Human rights activists, elected representatives and politicians have alleged that the deaths were staged. They say the police’s version of events is highly suspicious.
Here are five aspects of the shooting that raise uncomfortable questions for the AP police.
1. The Grouping Of The Bodies
The police claim that they stumbled upon a group of wood cutters numbering between 100-200 people in the forests and retaliated when attacked with axes, rods and stones. In the firing, the police say a scramble ensued, which resulted in the deaths of 20 people. Their bodies were found in two clearings located within a kilometre of each other. Visiting the spot of the alleged encounter, it is clear that the terrain affords enough space for shelter if fired upon. The dry deciduous forests of Seshachalam are made up of small trees, thick, thorny shrubs and rocks which can be tough to negotiate, but the undulating terrain also includes clearings such as the two where the bodies were found.
On Wednesday, the bodies were neatly arranged in two groups in the clearings, however, there was nothing but plastic litter, dried blood and stench in the area to suggest that anything had happened the previous day. No police personnel were to be seen, but papers under stones were left behind to mark the spots where the bodies had been found. Were they shot elsewhere and transported to this spot?
2. Bullet Wounds
Activists claim that the bodies have both entry and exit wounds suggesting that the wood cutters were fired upon from close range. They insist that if the firing was done from a distance, as the case should be in an encounter, the bullets would be lodged in the body. This however, is an unverified claim.
3. Clothing Of The Victims
The woodcutters’ bodies were found mostly in shorts and vests. Other items of clothing were found next to them. The forests however, are filled with bushes where thorns can be around 2 inches long and are quite tough to negotiate without appropriate clothing. Were they stripped of their clothing by the police before they were shot? If that is the case, it could hardly be called an encounter.
4. Recovery Of Weapons
The weapons recovered by the police include some sickles and rods which according to one politician, were raw blades without any handles. Was such overwhelming force really necessary?
5. Logs
Several politicians and activists have said that the logs found near the bodies were marked with paint, suggesting that they had been seized much earlier. According to claims, the logs in storage had been transported from a godown to the encounter site and scattered next to the bodies. Did the police dress up the scene of the shooting?
Activists Question Official Version
The veracity of the ‘encounter’ has been questioned on many counts, with activists and opposition in the state calling it stage managed.
The Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee (APCLC), has come out with some stunning allegations. They claim that seven of the 20 dead were picked up by the AP police on Monday and later killed in the ‘fake’ encounter.
According to APCLC, eight people were travelling on a Tamil Nadu bus from Thiruvanamalai district to Thirupathi. Seven were picked up by the police, but one managed to escape.
Once the bus crossed Tiruthanni and entered Andhra Pradesh, AP police entered the bus and took seven of them, who were daily wage labourers hired for cutting wood, into custody. Later when pictures of the dead bodies came in the media, their families recognized them.
– K Chaitanya of the APCLC.
Chaitanya also claims that they have a crucial witness––the eighth person on the bus, who had escaped and gone back to the village.
“It was this person who alerted the other families,” says Latha of the APCLC.
The APCLC has already approached the Andhra Pradesh High Court asking for murder charges to be slapped on all the policemen involved in the encounter.
Admitting the petition, the court has asked the state DGP to respond.
APCLC says the eighth person, the crucial witness, will be produced before the National Human Rights Commission or any judicial probe committee.
The brother of one of the seven men killed, further claimed that he identified his brother Munnisamy from pictures that were shown by the media.
According to the APCLC, Murthy, Munnisamy and Mahendran from Kannamangalam village, Palani and Perumal from Kaalasamudram village , and Sashi Kumar and Murugan from Vedagiri village were picked up by the police.
Advisor to AP Govt Defends the Firing
Dr Parakala Prabhakar, the advisor to the Andhra Pradesh Government answered two important questions that are being raised.
Prabhakar refuted the theory of a fake encounter. He said, “I dispute this fact. It was a dark and hence the police could not aim. So when they opened fire people were hit in the back as well”. But he did ask for patience till the probe report was submitted.
On being asked about burn marks found on the victims’ bodies Prabhakar said, “we are open to this version and it is only one version of the story. Let’s see what the probe reports says”.
Prabhakar was also asked about the number of smugglers and he said that the police force was outnumbered and the team fired at the smugglers only in self-defence.
“The police personnel were outnumbered by smugglers”. Around 200 smugglers surrounded the team. He also clarified, “the fact that we have so many smugglers in prisons in the state proves the fact that Andhra police is not trigger happy”.
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