Chittoor encounter 'survivor' surfaces, cops come under fire

April 8, 2015

Chittoor, Apr 8: A rights group said on Wednesday it has traced a “survivor” from a group of loggers shot dead by Andhra Pradesh police in an incident dubbed as a “massacre” of wood-cutters from neighbouring Tamil Nadu.

Chittoor encounter

On Tuesday, Andhra Pradesh police had claimed to have shot dead 20 illegal red sandalwood smugglers in a forest close to the temple town of Tirupati, sparking violent protests in the neighbouring state which continued on Wednesday.

Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee member Kranthi Chaitanya, in the forefront of a demand for a judicial enquiry into the encounter, said the organisation has “managed to establish contact with the survivor through relatives of the deceased who have come here (Chittoor) from Tamil Nadu.

“He is being kept at a safe place. We will produce him before the National Human Rights Commission,” he added.

The NHRC has already taken suo moto cognizance of the incident and asked for reports from the Andhra Pradesh chief secretary and police chief.

Family-members of a few of the slain “smugglers” arrived at the government mortuary in Chittoor also said the “survivor” was among of 8 wood-cutters hired by red sanders smugglers in Andhra.

The identity of the “survivor”, said to be from Arjuna Puram village in Thiruvanamalai district of Tamil Nadu, was not given.

They quoted him as saying that seven of his group were pulled out of a bus on Monday by police during a search at Nagari on the inter-state border.

“They were traveling in a bus from Thiruvanamalai to Chitoor on Monday afternoon. The bus was stopped by police and seven of the eight men were arrested. He was sitting separately and managed to slip away quietly,” said Raja Babu (38), a relative of one of those killed in the encounter.

The survivor is said to have returned to village on Tuesday morning, around the time news of the encounter broke on TV.

Media reports said that right group Amnesty International has also called for a fair probe into the incident.

Meanwhile, protests continued in Tamil Nadu with incidents of stone-pelting on buses originating in Andhra.

Police said four persons have been arrested over the attacks on buses. Several outfits organised protests in some parts of Tamil Nadu condemning the incident.

Tamil Nadu chief minister O Panneerselvam had written to the Andhra government, demanding a probe into what he called a massacre of innocent Tamils.

Union home minister Rajnath Singh also called up Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu over the incident.

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News Network
April 4,2020

Srinagar, Apr 4: Two militants were reportedly killed in an encounter with security forces in Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, police said.

The security forces launched a cordon and search operation based on intelligence inputs about the presence of militants in Hardmand Guri village in Kulgam, a police spokesperson said.

"This operation based on a credible police input was launched this morning. Two terrorists have been reportedly killed so far," the spokesperson said, adding that the exchange of fire was going on.

Earlier, the police tweeted on its official handle that three militants had been trapped in the cordon. "Same group of #terrorists trapped who killed 3 civilians recently," the police said.

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Agencies
January 11,2020

New Delhi, Jan 11: Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday met JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) President Aishe Ghosh here at Kerala House on Saturday.

This meeting comes at the backdrop masked mob violence by miscreants who entered the university campus recently and attacked the students and professors with sticks and rods.

"I thank the Kerela government for standing by us and extending solidarity. Its fight Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) shows how standing is standing for its secular ethos. Students Union takes the inspiration from this struggle," said Students' Union President in a statement after meeting Kerala CM.

She also thanked "the youth and comrades of Kerela" and quoted Pinarayi as saying, "go on we will take this fight ahead."

More than 30 students, including Ghosh, were taken to the AIIMS Trauma Centre.

The Delhi Police Crime Branch investigating the case of violence in JNU had identified and released photographs of nine suspects, including that of Aishe Ghosh.

Earlier on Monday, Kerala CM had said that the "Nazi-style attack" on the students and faculty is an appalling display of intolerance running amok.

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News Network
March 13,2020

New Delhi, Mar 13: Delhi's Tis Hazari Court on Friday sentenced expelled Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar and six others to 10 years imprisonment for the death of Unnao rape survivor's father. Sengar is already serving life imprisonment for raping the minor.

While sentencing them, District Judge Dharmesh Sharma said, "There can be no denying that rule of law was broken. Sengar was a public functionary and had to maintain the rule of law. The way the crime has been committed, it does not call for leniency."

Sengar and his brother Atul has been directed to give 10 lakh compensation to family of the victim for loss of their father. "There are four minor children involved, three girls and one boy. They have also been uprooted from native place," the judge said.

Seven people, including Sengar, his brother and two police personnel, were held guilty for culpable homicide and criminal conspiracy, earlier this month.

The case pertains to the death of rape survivor's father in custody on April 9, 2018. It was alleged that he was assaulted following a quarrel with some of the accused in the case.

He was taken to the police station and then framed for allegedly possessing an illegal firearm. Pursuant to this, he was sent to custodial remand, during which he died.

The case was transferred to Delhi from a trial court in Uttar Pradesh on the Supreme Court's directions in August last year. Both the death and illegal firearm case was later clubbed by the court.

During the arguments on sentencing on March 12, Sengar had told the court that he should be "hanged and acid poured into his eyes if he has done anything wrong".

The former MLA had also raped the daughter of the deceased in 2017 in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao district and was sent to jail for "remainder of his natural biological life", last year.

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