Relatives raise suspicions over 'Maoist' killing

Relatives of the suspected Maoist killed in an encounter at Wayanad in Kerala have raised suspicions over the killing.

Velmurugan, 33, of Anna Nagar colony at Periyakulam in Theni district of Tamilnadu, was killed in the encounter with Kerala police's Thunderbolt commandos at Padinjarathara forest areas of Banasura, about 30 kilometres from Kalpetta town on Tuesday morning.

The police version of the incident was that the commandos opened firing in self-defense following the firing by the Maoists who were around five in numbers.

One of the relatives of Velmurugan told a section of media at Kozhikode that there were multiple firing injuries and many seemed to be in close range. Hence the family would approach the court seeking a fair probe. The body was released to the family and was taken to a native place by evening after the postmortem examination at Kozhikode medical college hospital.

Meanwhile, opposition Congress demanded a judicial probe into the incident. The police prevented Congress workers from seeing the body of the deceased.

As per norms, the district magistrate would be conducting a probe into the incident.

Though the commandos carried out a search in the forest areas for the remaining members of the gang, no one could not be traced. According to police, Velmurugan was involved in instigating tribal community members to fight against the government, imparting arms training and recruiting more people to such groups. Cases were pending against him at several police stations in Kerala.