Mancherial, July 04: The autopsy on the bodies of top Maoist leader Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad and a journalist from Uttarkhand Hemachandra Pandey, who allegedly died in a police encounter a day earlier, was conducted on Saturday at the Government general hospital here. As per the court directive, the police allowed only the mother and brother of Azad, to see his body.
The High Court has earlier directed the police to allow the mother of the slain Maoist to see his body before conducting post mortem. Tension prevailed at the hospital when the police prevented the balladeer Gaddar, revolutionary writer, Mr Varavara Rao and others from entering the hospital. However, the police allowed Azad’s mother, Ms C. Karuna, to see the body before the autopsy began. She was accompanied by Azad’s brother, Mr C. Suresh.
Accompanied by other family members, Mr Varavara Rao and activists of civil liberties organizations arrived to the hospital where Azad’s body was bought for post mortem. Heated arguments took place between police and human rights activists when the police officials refused to allow them to see Azad’s body before autopsy. The police also barred even mediapersons from entering the hospital.
Speaking on the occasion, Balladeer Gaddar said that the police had gunned down the Maoist ideologue, who was to participate in the parleys, that shows that the government was not interested in peace. He also held the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and the Chief Minister, Mr Rosaiah responsible for the “fake encounter”. He warned that the killings of Maoist leaders in what he called the “staged shootouts” would lead to “a mass revolution” against the Centre and state governments. Azad was an educated Maoist leader.
“Mr Rosaiah, who frequently claims himself as a Gandhian, should remember that the government would definitely pay a heavy price for the fake encounter”, he cautioned. Azad was the third leading Maoist leader to be physically eliminated by the State police in the past one year. The Maoist top-brass Patel Sudhakar Reddy and Shakamuri Apparao were also killed in a gun battle. Azad had studied at the Korukonda Sainik School and had done his M Tech from the National Institute of Technology, Warangal. He had been a Maoist for four decades.
——-NSS