Ayanavaram encounter killing: Court rules out re-autopsy

Justice GK Ilanthiraiyan was passing orders on a plea filed by the victim’s mother S Govindammal seeking to exhume the body and conduct another autopsy.

 She had contended that Shankar, her second son, was murdered by police while he was in their illegal custody on August 21. She alleged that the metropolitan magistrate failed to keep the trust and the post-mortem examination was conducted in a hurried manner.

 Torturing and murdering an accused was the worst form of human rights violation and therefore it was just and necessary to order re-postmortem examination. Govindammal said in the plea. 

But Justice Ilanthiraiyan set aside the petition based on State public prosecutor A Natarajan’s submission that there was absolutely no necessity for undertaking such an exercise as the postmortem examination had been conducted as per norms and had also been recorded on video to allay apprehensions.

 However, the court directed the CBCID to complete the investigation and file a final report within two weeks.

 It may be noted that even as the plea moved by Shankar’s mother sought for a CB-CID probe into the incident, the government itself had decided to transfer the investigation to the agency. The police had claimed that a team had arrested Shankar and took him to the spot to ‘recover’ drugs when he tried to escape after attacking a constable with a sickle. Following this, the officials opened fire, killing him on the spot, claimed the city police.