NAGPUR: The Gadchiroli police have now urged district government hospital doctors, who performed postmortem on the bodies of 34 Maoists killed during an encounter in the Rale-Kasnasur-Boriya forests on Gadchiroli-Chhattisgarh border on April 22, to preserve the viscera for chemical analysis. This is to thwart allegations by Maoists that their cadres were poisoned before being shot dead.

The police are facing several allegations from red rebels. The Telangana State Committee of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), through its spokesperson Jagan, has claimed in a press release that cops poisoned their cadres and some innocent villagers before killing them in cold blood.

Residents of Gatepalli village in south Gadchiroli are also claiming that seven people from their village have been missing since April 21. They are saying the group had left for Kasnasur to attend a wedding at one Shoma Madavi's residence. The banned organisation's divisional committee member (DVCM) Sainath, who was gunned down in the Kasnasur encounter, was a native of Gatepalli.

A source from Gatepalli said eight people — Mangesh Atram, Irpa Madavi, Mangesh Madavi, Anita Gawde, Nusse Madavi, Raso Chukku Madavi, Raso Pocha Madavi and Ujju Usendi — had left the village on April 21 for Kasnasur to attend the marriage party. However, the hosts have claimed that none of the eight reached their destination. Gatepalli villagers feel the eight might have also been killed in the encounter as Ujju's body was identified at the Gadchiroli district government hospital mortuary.

According to police, the eight were not invited to the wedding. The area is abuzz with rumours that the cops had conspired with a former cadre-turned-home guard to poison the food at the Madavi marriage feast. Several Maoists, later killed in another encounter the following day, had also attended the marriage on April 21. A huge amount of food was also sent to the Maoist camp on the other side of the Indravati river for the resting cadres.

Gadchiroli SP Abhinav Deshmukh, a doctor, said: “Earlier, doctors were not keen on preserving the viscera as cause of death was clear. We have now requested that the same be preserved and sent for chemical analysis to clear any doubt.”

Deshmukh further said that DNA samples of the deceased have been preserved. “We will conduct DNA tests of Gatepalli families too to match with those bodies that have not yet been identified,” said Deshmukh.

Maoists to observe ‘bandh' on May 4

Maoists, who have released a press note in Telugu through their Telangana State committee, have announced a nation-wide bandh on May 4 to protest against the Gadchiroli ‘fake encounter'.

