CHENNAI: Maoist leader Mallojula Koteshwara Rao alias Kishenji was not killed in an encounter as claimed by the officials, but tortured to death in custody, said advocate CH Chandra Sekar, general secretary of Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee (APCLC), here on Wednesday. He said that Kishenji agreed for a ceasefire for three days when Union Home Minister P Chidambaram called for the same for three months.“At this juncture, the Maoist leader was brutally killed under the guise of an encounter,” he said and added: “Kishenji was against the imperialistic development of the country, which affects about 70 per cent of its total population. The encounter was to silence the voices against the government.”“Being a member of the Coordination of Democratic Right Organisation, we carried out a fact-finding study at the place where the encounter was reported to have happened. The committee also saw the body at the morgue,” he said.Enlisting the injuries on the body of the slain Maoist leader, he said that there were multiple injuries on the head, while the lower jaw was missing. Severe burns and slash marks were found on the throat. Both ankles were broken, while the left sole skin was burnt and there were over 30 bayonet cuts on the front portion of the body alone, he added. “However, there were no blood stains in the corresponding portions of his clothes and at the place where the body was found. The trees there bore bullet marks, but no burn marks despite the use of heavy artillery,” he observed.Advocate Shankara Subbu said that the government was against the objectives Kishenji was fighting for and the deliberation to release the findings of the fact-finding committee was to make the populace aware of Kishenji and the cause for his struggle. “This is because the problem is not confined just to one State,” he felt. An independent judicial inquiry by a sitting or retired SC or HC judge should be held and a case under section 302 of the IPC filed against those involved in the encounter
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