Court rejects plea seeking fresh autopsy on bodies of Maoists

A local court today dismissed a petition seeking re-postmortem on the bodies of two Maoists who were killed in an alleged encounter with police in Nilambur forests last month.
District and Sessions Judge S S Vasan in Manjeri rejected the plea in this regard by Sreedharan, brother of slain Maoist leader Kuppuswamy Devaraj and some human rights activists, public prosecutor P Suresh said.
The court observed that the autopsy was conducted by experts in Kozhikode Medical College Hospital and there was no need for a re-postmortem. It also directed the hospital to hand over the bodies to relatives of the deceased.

The police can take further action if the relatives refuse to receive the bodies, he said.
The court on November 29 had directed police to preserve the bodies of the two Maoists until it pronounces its verdict on December 5, on a PIL by Sreedharan and some human rights activists.
The petitioners had claimed the duo were gunned down in a "fake" encounter which was rejected by police saying they were killed in retaliatory firing, after the Maoists fired at them.
Kuppuswamy Devaraj, a central committee member of the outlawed outfit, and Ajitha were killed in an alleged encounter in the Nilambur forests in the district on November 24 during search operations by a 60-member elite team of the Thunderbolt Force, based on a tip-off that some Maoists were camping in the area.