SC orders Chhattisgarh to preserve body of top Maoist leader after plea claims fake encounter
New Delhi(PTI): The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Chhattisgarh government to preserve the body of top Maoist commander Katha Ramchandra Reddy, who was killed in an alleged fake police encounter in Narayanpur district.
A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and A G Masih said the body should not be buried or cremated till the high court decides the plea alleging a fake encounter and seeking an investigation into the matter.
"Till such time the high court decides the petition, the body shall not be cremated/buried," the bench directed as it asked the high court to take up the plea upon reopening after Dussera holidays.
Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for petitioner Raja Chandra, submitted his father was allegedly tortured and killed in a fake encounter, and the police were trying to dispose of the body.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the state police, said two persons were killed in an encounter and the father of the petitioner carried a Rs 7 crore bounty placed by seven states.
He informed the bench that the body of one Maoist killed in the same encounter was given to his family and cremated while the body of the petitioner's father was in hospital.
Mehta said the postmortem was done under video recording and no malafide can be attributed to the police.
The plea sought investigation by an independent agency, preferably by the CBI, not comprising officers from Chhattisgarh besides a fresh postmortem.
The plea, filed through advocate Satya Mitra, called the encounter fake.
The petitioner Raja Chandra, who has been a researcher at NALSAR University of Law at Hyderabad and sought directions to the Chhattisgarh government to preserve the body of his father in a government morgue, to conduct postmortem, and to direct the CBI to investigate the death/murder of his father through officers from outside the state of Chhattisgarh.
Both Katha Ramchandra Reddy and Kadari Satyanarayana Reddy were killed in the encounter on September 22.
According to the police, on September 22, the top top Maoist leaders carrying a bounty of Rs 40 lakh each in Chhattisgarh were killed in an encounter with security personnel in the state's Narayanpur district.
Both Katta Ramachandra Reddy (63) and Kadari Satyanarayana Reddy (67), were Central Committee members of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoists), they said.
The police said the gun battle broke out in the morning of September 22, in the forest of Abhujmaad, adjoining Maharashtra, when security forces were out on a search operation based on inputs about the movement of senior cadres in the region.
Intermittent exchange of fire continued for several hours before the bodies of two male cadres were recovered from the spot, the police had said and they have pointed out that from the encounter site, forces recovered one AK-47 rifle, one INSAS rifle, one BGL (barrel grenade launcher), a huge cache of explosives, Maoist literature, and other daily-use materials.
Ramachandra Reddy and Satyanarayana Reddy were natives of Karimnagar in Telangana and were active in 'Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee' of CPI (Maoist) that handles activities of the outlawed organisation in Bastar region of the state for over three decades.
Both were allegedly masterminds of several violent incidents in Bastar, which claimed the lives of security personnel and civilians, the police has said earlier.
With the latest action, 249 Naxalites have been killed in separate encounters in Chhattisgarh so far this year.
Of them, 220 were eliminated in the Bastar division comprising seven districts, while 27 others were gunned down in Gariaband district, which falls in Raipur division.
Two other Naxalites were killed in Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki district in Durg division.
The most notable of the killings has been that of Nambala Keshav Rao alias Basavaraju (70), general secretary and top most operative of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist), as well as five Central Committee members.
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Putin meets Iran's FM Araghchi, says Russia ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia
Moscow (PTI): Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hailed the Iranian people for fighting bravely and heroically for their sovereignty and said Moscow is ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia as soon as possible.
Araghchi, who held talks with Omani and Pakistani leadership before arriving in Russia, met Putin in St. Petersburg and thanked him for supporting Iran, state-owned TASS news agency reported.
"Russia is ready to do everything in its power to ensure that peace in the Middle East is achieved as soon as possible," Putin said during his meeting with Araghchi, which was also attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Revealing that he received a message from Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei last week, Putin asked Araghchi to convey his "gratitude for this message and best wishes for his health and well-being."
He praised the Iranian people for fighting "bravely and heroically" for their sovereignty, Iran's state-run PRESS TV reported.
"We really hope that, based on the courage and desire for independence, the Iranian people, under the guidance of the new leader, will weather this difficult period of trials and peace will come,” Putin said.
He also stressed that Russia “intends to maintain” its strategic relations with Iran.
Araghchi said that the world witnessed Iran’s strength in countering the US during the recent war, and that the Islamic Republic is a "stable and powerful establishment."
"With their courage, the Iranian people succeeded in resisting the US aggression and will be able to endure it,” he said.
He said that it became clear that Iran has “great friends and allies” like Russia, and conveyed “warmest greetings” from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian to the Russian leader.
Araghchi said relations between Moscow and Tehran represent a “strategic partnership at the highest level” and will continue to develop "regardless of circumstances."
"We are grateful to you for the solid and strong positions in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the talks between President Putin and the Iranian Foreign Minister were "useful and constructive."
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said that Russia is "ready to provide any good offices, any mediation services that are acceptable to the parties."
"We will be ready to do everything so that ultimately peace ensues, guaranteed peace, and that there is no return to hostilities," Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS.
He was asked how Moscow can assist in future negotiations on the Iranian settlement.
Araghchi arrived in Russia after his whirlwind trip to Islamabad, which, according to him, was “very productive” and involved “good consultations" with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, amid uncertainty over the second round of peace talks to resolve the war in West Asia.
"We held good consultations with our friends in Pakistan. The trip was successful. We assessed the outcome of our recent (meetings) and discussed in what direction and under what conditions talks can move on,” Araghchi said in a video posted on his Telegram channel upon his arrival in St Petersburg.
Referring to the second round of talks between the US and Iran to resolve the conflict in West Asia, Araghchi said: "Developments have taken place in the negotiations."
"Despite some progress in earlier rounds, the talks failed to reach their objectives due to the Americans' approach, the excessive demands they made, and the wrong approaches they adopted. Therefore, it was necessary to consult with our friends in Pakistan to review the latest situation,” Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
He said that the trip to Pakistan was a good opportunity to review developments related to the US-Israeli war against Iran, expressing confidence that “these consultations and coordination between the two countries will be highly significant.”
Araghchi arrived at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport early Monday, where he was welcomed by Russian officials and Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, the report said.
The first round of peace talks between Iran and the US, held on April 11 and 12, failed to bring the desired result for the parties to the conflict.
The Iranian minister arrived in Islamabad for the second time on Sunday after a short visit to Oman, where he held talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said on security in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts to end the Iran-US conflict.
After Araghchi left Pakistan for Oman on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would no longer be going to Islamabad for talks with Iran, contending that Washington held all the cards on the matter.
Trump on Sunday reiterated that the US and Iranian officials can talk by phone for a peace solution to the conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, just hours before the truce was set to expire.
The war began when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top commanders. The retaliation by the Islamic Republic extended the war to the entire Gulf region.
