VELLORE / TIRUVANNAMALAI:
The two First Information Reports — FIR 42/2015 and FIR 43/2015 — corresponding to the two alleged encounters in Cheekatigala Kona (where nine woodcutters were killed) and Sachinodi Banda (11 loggers killed) in the Seshachalam Reserve Forest of Chandragiri in AP, are strangely and eerily similar except for the names of the complainants, the places the encounters took place and the victims.
The time of the two encounters, too, are identical — 5.30 am to 6 am on April 7, 2015 — which raises suspicions as the two areas where the encounters are alleged to have taken place are more than two kilometres apart. The almost identical wording of the FIRs filed seems to erode the AP Red Sanders Anti Smuggling Task Force’s (RSASTF) claims of an ‘encounter’ with the loggers from Tamil Nadu. With Cheekatigala Kona and Sachinodi Banda over 2 km away, the similarity in the text of the two FIRs raises questions and suspicions of a cover-up by the STF of the actual happenings on April 7.
The killing of the 20 people, many of whom (learned from the narrative of witnesses who survived the ordeal) were rounded up well before they reached the Seshachalam forest area, points to a coordinated strategy on the part of the STF to round up the workers well before they reached the forest area.
FIR 42, one of the two FIRs to which Express has access, names Deputy Superintendent of Police (G Harinath Babu) of the Red Sanders Anti Smuggling Task Force as having led the team in the first encounter, while FIR 43 does not name any officer as leading the team in the second encounter.
Both FIRs, suspiciously similar in their narration describing the ‘encounter’, read — “the STF personnel approaching the forest area noticed — 100 Tamil speaking people in the hillock area yelling “Vettudi, konnudi” (hack, kill).
In response, according to both the FIRs, the DSP in charge of the task force told them loudly that they are in the presence of the AP police.The two First Information Reports (FIR) - FIR 42/2015 and FIR 43/2015 - corresponding to the two alleged encounters in Cheekatigala Kona (where nine woodcutters were killed) and Sachinodi Banda (11 loggers killed) in the Seshachalam Reserve Forest in AP, are strangely similar except for the names of the complainants, the places the encounters took place and those killed.
Both FIRs read — “the STF personnel approaching the forest area noticed — 100 Tamil speaking people in the hillock area yelling “Vettudi, konnudi” (hack, kill). In response, according to both the FIRs, the DSP in charge of the task force informed them loudly that they are in the presence of the AP police, to which there was no initial response from the workers. The FIRs claim, however, a few moments later, one of the red sanders ‘smugglers’ whipped out three firearms threatening the police. It was then (the FIRs claim) that the STF opened fire on the loggers in (self) defence.
The two FIRs throw up more questions and give credence to suspicions raised that the AP police were trying to stage an ‘encounter’ after having tortured and gunned down the victims before laying them to rest in the Reserve Forest area. The two FIRs do not seem to support the statement of Deputy Inspector General of Police of RSASTF, M Kantha Rao. The IPS officer, after visiting the encounter spots, told media representatives on April 7 that “...our men found hundreds of smugglers felling trees in the forest. Though the police warned them to surrender, the latter began raining stones on the team, injuring a few cops. The personnel opened fire in self-defence.”
In addition, despite all FIRs requiring the documentation of the names and serial numbers of the police personnel involved in any engagement, the two FIRs in question are suspiciously silent on the issue.
FIR
42/2015 filed in the Chandragiri Police Station, the police
invoked sections 147, 148, 307, 332 r/w 149 of Indian Penal Code and sections
20 (1), (2), (3), (4) and 44 of the AP
Forest Act, section 7, (24 (1), 55 of Biological Diversity Act and Policing
Firing following a complaint from K Nataraja, Forest Section Officer of
Nagapatla section, Chamala Range. The encounter took place between 5.30 am and
6 am in Cheekatigala Kona. Nine persons killed found dead, but no mention of
the number of logs found along with the dead bodies.
The
complaint regarding second one (FIR 43/2015) filed by C Kodandan, Forest Beat
Officer of Nagapatla section. It took place at Sachinodi Banda between 5.30 am
and 6 am. The police invoked sections 47, 148, 307, 332 r/w 149 of Indian Penal Code, 25 (1) (b) of Indian Arms Act and sections 20 (1), (2), (3), (4) and 44 of the AP Forest Act, section 7, (24 (1), 55 of Biological Diversity Act and Policing Firing . As many as 11 found dead and 13 logs found in
the spot./eom/shan/
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