Close on the heels of the killing of Maoist leader Rajamouli 10 days ago, yet another key leader, Chettiraja Papaiah alias Somanna, was killed in an encounter in Warangal on Sunday.

However, human rights activists quickly rallied on Monday and petitioned the state human rights commission, which ordered a fresh post mortem. This forced the police to recover the body from his family in Warangal and keep it in safe custody till Tuesday, when the post mortem is expected to be performed.

Revolutionary poet Varavara Rao alleged that Somanna was arrested in Karnataka and brought to Warangal forests, where he was shot dead, with the police claiming it to be an encounter killing. He maintained that the killing was ‘murder’ by the police. He, along with other well known human rights activists, petitioned the state human rights commission  to get to the truth. Accordingly, the commission ordered a fresh post mortem.

The Warangal police claimed that Somanna, a much wanted Maoist who carried a reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head, was killed in an exchange of fire with police in Medaram forest area in Tadvai Mandal of Warangal district. They claimed to have recovered one AK 47 rifle, a carbine, a pistol and four kitbags from the encounter site, which in essence meant that there were three other Maoists who escaped.

Somanna  was a member of the North Telangana Special Zonal Committee Secretariat and was underground for 21 years. A native of Warangal district, Somanna held top positions in the Maoist party and had only recently moved to Chattisgarh to rebuild the party there. The party is in tatters there, following the elimination of  senior leaders in the past three years.

Another key Maoist leader, Rajamouli alias Prasad, who was in charge of the Karnataka unit of Maoist party, was killed in Anantapur on June 23. While the AP police claimed he was killed in an encounter in Dharmavaram police station limits,  the Maoists say that he was picked up by police in Kerala the previous day, brought to Anantapur and shot dead.

The Maoists have called for a state wide bandh on July 7 to protest against the killing of Somanna. Meanwhile, the Visakhapatnam district is on a red alert in view of the one-day bandh called by the CPI (Maoist)  to protest the killing.