TN Govt asks for enquiry on Police shooting in Andhra Pradesh

It was alleged 20 people, mainly from Tamil Nadu, were killed during the shooting

The Tamil Nadu government has asked the Andhra Pradesh government to order for an enquiry on the police shooting, in which 20 people mainly from Tamil Nadu were killed on Tuesday.

The Andhra Pradesh Police had said they had shot dead 20 smugglers of red sanders, a rare wood with huge demand globally, in Andhra Pradesh's Seshachala forest area on Tuesday.

The incident was condemned by all the major political parties in the State and rights activist have called it a massacre.

In a letter to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu today Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam said "I am very distressed to learn that in an operation conducted early this morning (7.4.2015) by the Red Sanders Anti-Smuggling Task Force personnel of Andhra Pradesh in the Srivarimettu and Eesagunda areas in Seshachala forest area, about twenty persons sustained bullet injuries and succumbed to the injuries on the spot".

Many of these persons are reportedly from Tiruvannamalai and Vellore Districts of Tamil Nadu. While it is possible that these persons may have been engaged in illegal activities, the occurrence of such high casualties in the operation raises concerns whether the Task Force personnel acted with adequate restraint. Even if the persons had been engaged in illicit tree cutting, efforts could have been made to apprehend them rather than take such drastic action and cause such high casualties, said the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister.

He asked the Andhra Pradesh Government to order a credible and speedy enquiry into the matter so that the facts are established and responsibility fixed for possible human rights violations.

"In case of any human rights violations, it is essential that action is taken against those who caused the deaths and appropriate compensation is paid to the families of the victims" said the Chief Minister.