Rights activists demand judicial probe

Hyderabad: Strongly condemning the 'gruesome murder' of former Maoist leader Ganti Prasadam, civil society organisations and intellectuals demanded the State government to order judicial probe into the incident and punish the responsible, immediately. Participating in the day-long dharna organised against the killing of Prasadam, senior journalist P Venkateswara Rao said the judicial enquiry into the incident will not only bring out the truth behind Prasadam's murder, but also helps police to prove its innocence in the wake of reports that police resorted to such heinous act. He said that the organisations, fighting for civil rights, will take initiative to arrange peace talks between the government and Maoist organisations, if both sides are ready to resolve the long-pending issues. Professor G Haragopal said the death of Prasadam and another Maoist leader Azad was irreparable loss to the society as well as the governments. The State and Union governments were answerable to such incidents and warned that the government will have to pay heavy price in the coming days. Calling on organisations to fight unitedly against suppression of civil rights by the governments, PUCL leader Jaya Vindhyala said the movements cannot be contained by murdering people. "Individuals may be killed but not their ideas." APCLC leader Raghunath observed that the Supreme Court in its judgement upheld booking cases against police who took part in the encounters under 302 Section. But the government did not follow the court directions. The government and police were not above the law, he added. Cultural activist and one of the Secretaries of Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners in Jharkhand, Jiten Marandi said that the mass struggles cannot be stopped by fascist killings. Arunodaya state President Rama Rao, Prasadam's younger brother G Ramana and representatives of other organisations also extended solidarity by participating in the dharna.