Ranchi: Former Union home minister P Chidambaram said on Friday that a "thorough inquiry" should be made into the killing of the four people, accused in the rape and murder of a 25-year-old woman veterinarian in Hyderabad.
All the four accused were killed in an encounter with the police around 6.30 am when they were taken to the site of the offence for reconstruction of the crime scene as part of the investigations, a senior official said.
"I don't know the facts about what happened, but I can say this much, whatever happened, an inquiry should be made into it," Chidambaram told reporters when asked for a reaction on the incident during a press conference here.
"There must be a thorough inquiry to know if it (is a) genuine encounter or whether it is anything else. As a responsible person, I will ask for a thorough inquiry," he added.
The Congress leader was in the city to take part in the party's poll campaign.
"This election in Jharkhand will mark an important turning point -- the BJP on the one side and the secular- progressive parties on the other. Eighty-one members will run the state and I appeal to the people of Jharkhand to remain focused on who will be these 81 people," he said.
Urging the people of the state to vote for the opposition alliance, he said the Congress has dented the BJP in Haryana and denied it power in Maharashtra.
Chidambaram, who was on Wednesday night released on bail from the Tihar Jail after 106 days in custody in the INX Media money-laundering case, also said that the opposition alliance will have a common minimum programme if voted to power.
"We will ensure the firm implementation of the Chhotanagpur Tenancy Act, the Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act (Acts that protects tribal land in Jharkhand), the Forest Rights Act and the Panchayati Raj Act (Extension to Scheduled Areas)," he said.
He also reiterated his party's promise of crop loan waiver up to Rs 2 lakh, increase in mandays under the MG-NREGA scheme and house for every family, if voted to power.
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Mangaluru (Karnataka): Frequent sightings of strangers suspected to be Maoists in the Koojimalai forest area have prompted Anti-Naxal Force (ANF) jawans to take up combing in the forest area, and a contingent of ANF has been stationed in Koojimalai village, sources said on Thursday.
Another sighting of a suspected Naxalite had been reported from a heavily wooded forest area on Thursday, they said.
According to the sources, a worker in the rubber plantation claimed that he had sighted a woman in the forest area who is not from the village. Efforts to locate the woman are ongoing, with ANF teams conducting thorough searches in both the Ainekidu and Koojimale estate areas.
Sources within the ANF have suggested that Naxalite groups, previously detected in these regions, may still be active on the fringes of the Pushpagiri forest sanctuary.
ANF sources have confirmed that they have received complaints of strangers frequenting the area between Sampaje and Koojimalai.