Forensic report on Maoist killing puts police in a tight spot

Kalpetta: The forensic report on the killing of Maoist leader C P Jaleel during an “encounter” at Lakidi in Wayanad district of Kerala in 2019, has landed the police in a tight spot.

The forensic report revealed that Jaleel did not open fire on the day of the incident. No shot was found to have been fired from the gun which was sent for forensic examination by police. There were no particles or remains of gunpowder on Jaleel 's right hand either.

With the findings of forensic examination now out, the allegations that Jaleel was killed in a fake encounter, have resurfaced.

According to the police version, Jaleel was killed in an encounter which took place at a private resort named “Upavan” on March 6, 2019. The Maoists had arrived at the resort and demanded money from the owner which led to an altercation between the two groups.

On receiving the information about the scuffle with Maoists, the local police and anti Maoist armed force The Thunderbolt reached the spot and took on the Maoists.

Soon after the encounter, Jaleel's borther C P Rasheed and human rights activists had charged the police of staging a fake encounter.

They claimed that there are enough circumstantial evidence to show the Kerala Thunderbolt had deliberately killed Jaleel after detaining him.

Rasheed charged that though the police could have fired below the waist, the killer shots were deliberately fired.

Even though a magisterial and Crime Branch probe was initiated by the state government over the fake encounter allegations, activists claimed that this is unlikely to serve any purpose and had demanded a judicial probe.