Red sanders smugglers - Tirupati encounter -

Are we living in a civilised country ruled by law? The massacre shocks the conscience of the country. As an act of deliberate savagery and malignant insanity, it will not be enough if the proximate killers are punished. The higher-ups in the police and the government will have to find credible answers. They should also explain why it is that while tonnes of minerals and other state resources are illegally mined and smuggled out under political and state patronage, petty woodcutters must get executed in inhumanly manner.

Even though there can be no dispute that the woodcutters were doing something illegal, the claim that the special force resorted to such an extreme step as they were attacked with stones and sickles lacks credibility. It is also not clear why the taskforce did not take aim at the woodcutters below the knee. Instead of swooping down on the poor woodcutters, the taskforce should have identified the kingpins who are sure to have political connections and taken action against them.

The incident cannot be justified on any ground. Although there have been attempts to control red sanders smuggling, the State machinery in Andhra Pradesh has not succeeded in this because of an inadequate number of checkpoints at the borders. There are reports that the smuggling is driven by the international mafia. In order to prevent such incidents, greater coordination between the States that share borders with Andhra Pradesh, proper checks using even drone surveillance technology and electronic barriers may be needed.

Further, it wouldn’t have been difficult for the Andhra Police, with all their might and weaponry, to have surrounded the woodcutters, made them surrender and interrogated them to get the real names. The act, which amounts to a ‘mowing down’ of the woodcutters, is inhuman. I hope there is adequate compensation to the families apart from ordering a judicial inquiry.

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Red sanders encounter: Tamil Nadu govt announces Rs 3 lakh each to kin of those killed in AP; NHRC seeks reply

http://zeenews.india.com/news/tamil-nadu/red-sanders-encounter-tamil-nadu-govt-announces-rs-3-lakh-each-to-kin-of-those-killed-in-ap-nhrc-seeks-reply_1575404.html