Madurai encounter a drama enacted by police:Rights Activists

Encounter in Madurai, and two notorious shot dead, claimed by the police was a fake one, said a Human Rights Organisation.

Tamil Nadu police shot dead two notorious rowdies in an encounter at Madurai on 16 February, Human Rights activists raised their concern over alleged violations of procedural guidelines of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

Rights activists also charged that Tuesday’s encounter was ''a well planned elimination''.

There had been 22 cases of encounter deaths during the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) rule, since May 2006 and in all the cases, the individuals were unceremoniously stripped of their Constitutional rights to life, liberty and due course of law, said Executive Director of People’s Watch Mr Henri Tiphange.

The Madurai-based Human Rights Organisation has been fighting for the cause of the depressed and oppressed people.

In a statement , he said the killing of two rowdies in a police encounter was not an encounter, but a well-planned elimination as all the elements make that clear. The police had violated the procedural guidelines of NHRC to be adopted in cases of alleged encounter deaths, he charged.

Another organisation Society for Community Organisation (SOCO) also criticised the police action and said it was yet another gross violation of human rights. SOCO Managing Trustee Mr Mahaboob Batcha urged the government to prosecute the offenders as per law.

Both the organisations have sent memorandums to the NHRC seeking its intervention and to probe the encounter killings. They also demanded action against the encounter-specialist and Assistant Commissioner of Police S Velladurai, who had shot dead the rowdies and book him for murder.

Meanwhile, one of the encounter victim Murugan alias Kalmandaiyan’s mother Kuruvammal alleged that a police team had come to her house at Maruthupandiyan Nagar on February 13 and took her and her daughter to the station and beat them up.

The police team demanded the whereabouts of Murugan. Kuruvammal said the police caught Murugan at Puliyankulam village the next morning and took him to the Q Branch police office in Madurai for interrogation.

''I saw my son last on February 14,'' she said, adding police informed her yesterday that her son was shot dead in an encounter.

She further said she suspected foul play in her son’s death and demanded justice from the government.

The police has shot dead M Kaviarasu (32) and his accomplice Murugan, against whom more than 100 cases, including murder, rape, money extortion and robbery were pending.

The police official Velladurai, who shot dead both the criminals had shot dead another gangster K Veeramani in Chennai on July 27, 2003 and in the killing of forest brigand Veerappan on October 18, 2004 was a member of the Special Task Force (STF) at the time of AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa's regime.

"Present DMK government, using the same person for fake encounters", Rights activists claimed.

- Asian Tribune -