SC to hear plea against killing of 15 Maoists in Chhattisgarh

The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear a plea seeking a CBI inquiry into the killing of 15 alleged Maoists by security forces in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district on August 6.

The plea was mentioned before a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra which posted it for hearing on August 13.

An NGO, Civil Liberty Committee, approached the apex court seeking investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or constitute a Special Investigating Team (SIT) to probe the killings.

It sought direction to constitute a judicial inquiry by a sitting judge of high hourt.

On August 6, 11 alleged Maoists were killed and two others, including a senior cadre and an injured woman rebel, were held after a gun battle with security forces in Sukma district.

The police had said that operation was based on an intelligence input about the presence of a large number of Maoists in the area and they were killed as they retaliated with firing when the police asked them to surrender.

Eight Maoists, including four women, were gunned down in a similar operation conducted by security forces in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on July 19.

In April, eight Maoists -- six of them women -- were killed in a joint operation by Chhattisgarh and Telangana security personnel near the inter-state boundary in Bijapur.

--IANS

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