Govt told to file counter on plea seeking CBI probe

The Hyderabad High Court on friday directed the Andhra Pradesh government to file a counter on a petition, seeking a CBI probe into the killing of 20 people in police firing in Chittoor on April 7.

A division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta and Justice PV Sanjay Kumar, directed the state government to file a counter affidavit on the petition filed by the Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee (APCLC) on whether investigation should be handed over to the CBI or not and posted the matter after summer vacation.

The High Court had on April 13 made Muniyammal, wife of one of the victims Sasi Kumar, a co-petitioner in the case filed by APCLC which alleged that the firing incident was a “brutal and planned murder” by the STF, and those killed in the firing were poor labourers from Tamil Nadu.

APCLC counsel V Raghunath, meanwhile, filed an affidavit in the HC on Friday, objecting to the appointment of IG of Police Ravishankar Ayyanar as the head of the Special Investigation Team, probing the incident, saying “Ayyanar is known as an encounter specialist”. “During his (Ayyanar’s) tenure as SP, Guntur, several encounters had taken place. While those are pending, how could he do justice to these victims (20 people who were killed in the Chittoor firing),” Raghunath alleged.