Tamil Nadu condemns killing of 20 in Andhra

The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday demanded a "credible enquiry" into the killing of 20 people, mainly Tamils, by police in Andhra Pradesh. Political parties in Tamil Nadu sought action against the Andhra policemen.

Expressing distress over the killings, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam pressed his Andhra counterpart N. Chandrababu Naidu to order the probe into the death of alleged smugglers of precious wood.

In a letter to Naidu, Panneerselvam said: "I request you to kindly 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," he said.

Police said the 20 were shot dead in a forest in Chittoor district when they attacked police personnel with sickles and other sharp edged weapons. They were apparently involved in cutting red sanders trees.

According to Panneerselvam, many of the dead were 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," the chief minister added.

Leaders of various political parties in Tamil Nadu condemned the killings.

DMK president and former chief minister M. Karunanidhi said the mass killing, including of 12 people from Tamil Nadu, was a worrying factor.

"The failure of the governments of both states to come to a solution through discussions has resulted in the killing," he said.

MDMK general secretary Vaiko demanded the dismissal of the police officials involved in the operation and said they should be charged with murder.

He also sought a judicial probe by a high court judge.

PMK founder S. Ramadoss said the killings cannot be justified. The smuggling of red sanders in Andhra Pradesh had been going on for years and the culprits should be apprehended and punished, not killed.

Ramadoss said there were around 3,000 people from Tamil Nadu jailed in Andhra Pradesh on charges of smuggling red sanders.

Despite all these incidents, the Tamil Nadu government had not acted, emboldening the Andhra Pradesh Police to gun down the 20 on Tuesday, the PMK leader said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress also denounced the police for killing the 20 people.

BJP's Tamil Nadu state leader Tamilisai Soundararajan said the killings were unjustified. Congress state chief E.V.K.S. Elangovan demanded "a proper probe" into the incident.

Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh State Transport Road Corp cancelled 60 buses from Chennai to various parts of Andhra Pradesh as a precaution in view of mounting tensions.