Police yesterday claimed two Maoists were killed in a shootout in Kerala’s Nilambur forests.
But many, including a key ruling coalition partner, are not convinced.
“The government should convince the people,” Janayugam, the mouthpiece of the Communist Party of India (CPI) said in an editorial.
“There should not be summary killings in the name of the anti-Maoist drive. The government should come out with all facts.”
Kanam Rajendran, the party’s secretary in the state, who criticised Friday’s police action, also asked the government to clear the air.
The two Maoists were identified as Koppam Devarajan and Ajitha alias Kaveri.
As the mystery deepens, the state human rights commission sent a notice to the police chief, Loknath Behera, seeking an explanation within two weeks.
Even after three days, the police have not allowed reporters to enter the scene of “shootout” in the Nilambur forests of Malappuram district or give a convincing explanation.
They insist that there were 11 Maoists who fired at a team of 60 elite Thunderbolt command force and nine of them escaped.
“It’s an unexpected encounter,” said Debesh Kumar Behera, the district police chief.
“They were killed in the return fire. They were camping there for six to seven months. Their leader Vikram Gowda was also among them.”
The police displayed materials they recovered from the hideout, including a pistol, a few books and gadgets and Rs500,000 in cash. They had also stocked 50kg of rice.
Police detained more than 50 people who protested before the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital where the bodies of the slain men were kept.
They have not released the body of Devarajan to his relatives, including his mother and brother.
Human rights groups, including the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), have rejected the police’s version. 
“It’s a fake encounter,” said Babu, the brother of Devarajan, the 60-year-old Communist Party of India (Maoist) leader.
“He was a good man. He was living away for many years now. We don’t know why the police killed him,” his mother Ammani Ammal said.
They have demanded a copy of the autopsy report. Police sources said they would keep the bodies in the mortuary for three more days for identification purpose.
However, protesters do not believe the police version that the rebels fought with heavily armed elite anti-insurgency troops and nine of them escaped without injuring none.
They say the police surrounded the camp where the two rebels were sleeping and shot them dead in what they describe as “cold-blooded murder.” They claim the woman was there to look after the ailing leader.
Meanwhile, the opposition Congress Party appeared deeply divided on the issue.
Ramesh Chennithala, the party’s legislature leader, and a former home minister, justified the action saying he was convinced of the Maoist threat, while party president V M Sudheeran demanded a judicial probe.
K Muraleedharan, a former president of the party’s state unit, reminded the CPI that it was when its late leader C Achutha Menon was the chief minister that the police suppressed the Naxal movement. Rajendran retorted that Muraleedharan’s father K Karunakaran was the home minister who kept Menon in the dark.
“Barbarian laws and human rights violations should not be allowed to rule in the name of the Maoist hunt,” Rajendran said. “This is not what the people expect from a communist government.”
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who also holds the home portfolio, justified the action.
“There are a lot of loopholes in the police version which raise doubts,” he said.
“This is an insult to the entire state,” another CPI leader Sathyan Mokeri said.


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