Self defence or murder? All you need to know about the killing of 20 red sanders 'smugglers'

The heat is increasing on the Andhra Pradesh government and police to explain itself over the killing of 20 red sanders ‘smugglers’ in Chittoor district, amidst claims that the ’encounter’ was a staged one.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam has written to his Andhra Pradesh counterpart N Chandrababu Naidu, while leaders from all major parties have condemned the killings. For his part, Naidu has called a high level meeting and reviewed the situation with ministers and officials to enquire about the details of the shootout.

Here is a guide to everything that has happened with regards to the incident so far:

The police version of events:

Unsurprisingly, the first version of events that came out was that of the police. They said the encounter had taken place while members of the Red Sanders Anti-Smuggling Special Task Force (RSASTF) had been engaged in combing operations in Srinivasa Mangapuram, Srivarimettu and Eethangunta.

When the task force arrived at the spot, the smugglers, along with the help of some labourers, attacked the police with stones and axes, after which the policemen opened fire on them, according to reports. Some police and forest personnel were also injured in the face-off, police said.

“Twenty red sander smugglers have died at two places. There was an exchange of fire with our task force personnel. They (smugglers) were carrying red sander logs and attacked the police and forest personnel with sickles and fire arms. They also attacked the personnel with stones,” Additional DGP (Law and Order) RP Thakur told PTI. After the police personnel came under attack, they retaliated, he said.

Deputy Inspector General of Police Kanta Rao told reporters that over 100 smugglers and labourers helped them to attack policemen, forcing them to open fire in self-defence.

“The smugglers, once challenged by the police, tried to overpower the security personnel and carry away the logs. In the process, they attacked the policemen,” Thakur said.

The holes in the police story

A number of facts have emerged that cast doubt on the police version of events.

For one thing, as pointed out in this Indian Express report , “At one of the two sites where bodies were found, seven of the nine dead had been shot in the face or the back of the head. Many had burn injuries — on the abdomen, shoulders and hands, the skin peeling off”. The police had said that the ‘burn’ marks had been caused by the ‘summer heat’.

The Times of India provides further information . It said that “the logs strewn near the bodies were evidently not fresh: A few of them had numbers neatly painted on them and could have been from an earlier seizure.” Also raising suspicion was the fact that there were no red sanders trees in the vicinity of the location where the encounter had taken place.

The report also quoted CPI’s P Harinath Reddy , who visited the spots, as saying that the knives the men were found with were rusted. “They could not have used them to cut anything. It’s a staged encounter.The government is targeting workers instead of going after contractors who employ them to smuggle wood,“ he told the newspaper.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has already issued notice to the Andhra Pradesh government seeking a report on the killings, noting that the incident “involved a serious violation” of human rights. NHRC member Justice D Murugesan told the Express the firing cannot be justified on the ground of “self-defence” since it resulted in loss of lives of 20 people.

History of violence between police and red sanders smugglers

This particular incident marks the single largest death toll in any incident of red sanders smuggling, but it hardly comes in a vacuum. There has been a long history of conflict between police and smugglers in the state.

According to another report in the Times of India, two years ago, two forest guards were stoned to death by a gang involved in felling red sanders. Following the incident, the Andhra government had formed the special task force to counter the menace.

An explainer in the Indian Express adds that skirmishes occur on almost a daily basis between forest personnel and smugglers happen in Chittoor, Nellore, Kadapa and Kurnool, and especially in the Seshachalam forests into which smugglers enter from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

DIG Task Force (Anti-Red Sanders Smuggling) B Kanta Rao was quoted in the report as saying that forest officers are often helpless against the gangs who launch vicious attacks with stones and sharp instruments at anyone who challenges them.

Reactions so far:

The news has evoked massive anger in Tamil Nadu.

According to this report in the Indian Express , “protesters attacked seven Andhra Pradesh Transport Corporation buses in Chennai and smashed the glass panes. Security has been stepped up at many Chennai-based establishments of Andhra-origin owners, including restaurants, clubs and banks, after protesters tried to target them in separate incidents.”

Further protests are expected today and security has been tightened across Tamil Nadu.

The Tamil Nadu government has demanded that compensation is paid to the families of those killed in the incident. He also wants action initiated against those responsible for the killing, if a human rights violation is established in the probe.