C.P. Rashid, brother of suspected Maoist C.P. Jaleel who was killed in an alleged police encounter at Lakkidi, on Friday sought criminal action against the police for shooting to death his brother.
He reiterated that there were strong reasons to doubt the police version of the gunfight between the Thunderbolt commandos and Maoists on Wednesday night. He told journalists here that the incident could not even be construed as an accident.
Jaleel was not in the attire usually donned by armed Maoist squads and that he was shot in the head. Besides, Mr. Rashid was allowed to see the body of his brother only on Thursday afternoon.
It was unfortunate that his brother, who believed in communist ideology, was finished off by a Left government, Mr. Rashid said. Incidentally, Jaleel was also the first Keralite and the third suspected Maoist to be killed in a police encounter in the State in recent times.
Meanwhile on Friday morning, the doctors attached to the Department of Forensic Medicine of the Kozhikode Government Medical College Hospital carried out a post mortem examination on the body. After several hours of official procedures, the body was released to his relatives by noon. The relatives had requested the State government to release the body for his last rites.
Balram Kumar Upadhyay, IGP of Kannur range, said this was after Wyaanad District Collector A.R. Ajaykumar decided on the issue. The body was taken to Pandikkad amid high security at around 1 p.m.
All procedures were videographed for official purposes. A large number of people, including human rights activists, had gathered on the premises of the medical college. The police had also taken precautionary measures to meet exigencies in case of any untoward incidents.