AP sets up SIT to probe 'encounter'

Andhra Pradesh DGP J Ramudu has set up an eight-member special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the Seshachalam encounter killing in which a police special force shot down 20 woodcutters.

In a statement on Friday, Ramudu said the SIT would be headed by Dr Ravi Shankar Ayyanar IG, who has just returned from a stint with the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

Kurnool DIG B V Ramana Kumar, SP (technical) G Pala Raju, West Godavari district Additional SP L Chandrasekhar, CID DSPs N Yugandhar Babu and K Raghu, East Godavari’s Korukonda Circle Inspector G Madhusudhan, and Chittoor Circle Inspector S Chandrasekhar are the other members of the team.

Dealing with a PIL on the April 7 encounter, the High Court of Judicature in Hyderabad on April 15 ordered the state to set up an SIT to probe the encounter. Additional Advocate General D Srinivas had then informed the division bench of Chief Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta and Justice P V Sanjay Kumar that the government would comply with the orders as soon as Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu returns from his five-day trip to China.