AP Team Begins 'Encounter' Probe

By J Shanmugha Sundaram

Published: 26th May 2015 

TIRUVANNAMALAI:

The Special Investigation Team (SIT), constituted by the Andhra Pradesh government to probe the controversial encounters by Red Sander Anti-Smuggling Task Force in Seshachalam Reserve Forest (RF) on April 7, has begun its two-day inquiry beginning with the family members of victims from  Tiruvannamalai on Monday.

The SIT team led by the Inspector General of Police Ravi Shankar Ayyanar, who was deputed by the Central National Investigation Agency, conducted their inquiry which lasted seven hours in Murugapadi village after summoning the family members of seven of the victims to that village in Tiruvannamalai district.

SIT team inquirying victims' families

The team conducted inquiries and recorded the statements of the spouses and mothers of victims - G Moorthy (38) of Murugapadi, S Mahendran (22) of Gandhinagar Kollaimedu, V Palani (35) of Kalasamuthiram, G  Munusamy of Kollaimedu in Murugapadi, K Perumal (37) of Vettagiripalayam, A Sasi Kumar(34) of Vettagiripalayam and M Murugan (38) of Kalamburankotta. In addition the SIT team made inquiries of the spouse of Sekar of Kollaimedu, one of the key witnesses who escaped from being rounded up by police as he was sitting next to a woman   passenger away from the group of workers he was travelling with when the police arrested them from a bus bound for Chittoor. 

The team began their inquiry with Muniyammal, wife of A Sasi Kumar and asked her when her husband left the village, what his occupation was, where he had worked earlier and when she last spoke to her husband.

“We were informed about the inquiry by the SIT team today (Monday) morning. At about 1 pm, we were summoned to Murugapadi village. They recorded our statements and obtained our signature. They have also given a copy of it,” 22-yr-old Mahendran’s elder brother, Madhavan told Express.

The team will continue its inquiry and record the statements of the family members of the remaining five victims from Tiruvannamalai - S Govindasamy (37), V Vallimuthu (22), C Chinnasamy (40), G Rajendran (30) and R Panneerselvam (25) — from Melkavanavur and Melkuppanvur village in Jawadhu Hills on Tuesday.

After completing their inquiry here, the team will reach Sitheri Hills in Dharmapuri and later go to Salem to make their inquiries about the remaining victims, said a source. 

Of the 20 gunned down in the encounters at Sachinodi Banda and Cheekatigala Kona in Seshachalam RF in Chittoor, 12 were from Tiruvannamalai district, seven others were from Dharmapuri district and one from Salem district. Revenue Divisional Officer of Tiruvannamalai R Umamaheswari and Tahsildar of Polur, Gopu assisted the SIT team in recording the statements.