Authorities perform last rites of Basavaraju, 7 other Naxalites killed in Chhattisgarh encounter

Narayanpur, May 26 (PTI) The last rites of top Maoist leader Nambala Keshav Rao, alias Basavaraju, and seven other cadres killed in an encounter in Chhattisgarh last week were performed by the authorities on Monday, officials said.

The last rites were conducted in Narayanpur.

In one of the biggest strikes on Naxalites, security forces gunned down Basavaraju, the general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), and 26 other cadres, during an encounter in the forest of Abhujmad along the Bijapur-Narayanpur inter-district border on May 21.

Two jawans of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) of the state police were also killed during the operation.

Of the 27 killed Naxalites, the bodies of 20 cadres were handed over to their respective families after verifying their claims, a police statement said.

However, the kin of Naxalite Kosi, alias Hungi, requested the local authorities to facilitate the cremation of his body in Narayanpur, the district headquarters, citing fear of the spread of communicable diseases as it had decomposed, it said.

In the presence of the authorities and several policemen, Kosi’s family members performed his last rites.

There were no clear legal claimants for the remaining seven bodies of Naxalites, including that of Basavaraju, it said.

These bodies were cremated in Narayanpur as per the legal procedure, the statement said.

Accusing the police of not handing over Basavaraju’s body to them, his family had approached the Andhra Pradesh High Court, seeking a direction to the Chhattisgarh and AP governments to give them the body for performing the last rites.

The kin of another slain Naxalite had also approached the AP high court with a similar plea.

The Andhra Pradesh HC on May 24 disposed of the two writ petitions, saying the petitioners were open to approach the police authorities of Chhattisgarh to seek custody of the bodies of the deceased.

The Chhattisgarh Advocate General had informed the HC that after completion of the post-mortem, the bodies would be handed over to the respective relatives as per legal procedure. PTI COR TKP NR