Cuttack, Aug. 21: The alleged killing of Katru Huika, a tribal, by armed jawans during a combing operation in Koraput two years ago has taken a new turn with the state police accusing his widow of making false claims in a petition filed by her in Orissa High Court.
The 26-year-old widow, Simkari Huika, said the armed jawans had killed her husband in cold blood and thrown the body without informing her and the family members.
She sought order for an impartial investigation to find out the truth and adequate compensation for the damage and irreparable loss caused to her. According to the widow’s petition, in early morning on April 13, 2009, Huika had gone to attend nature’s call at his village Lachhamani wearing a towel. When he was returning home, the armed jawans suddenly opened fire killing him on the spot.
Thereafter, the body was taken away by the armed jawans and not handed over to her. She was not aware whether it had been cremated or thrown in the jungle. Moreover, she did not know whether the post-mortem had been conducted. However, in a counter affidavit, the state police said: “There is no grain of truth in the allegation. It is a deliberate attempt to demoralise and defame the forces, which are fighting extremists day in and day out even at the cost of their lives.”
“As evident from the inquest report, the deceased, Katru Huika, was wearing a black half shirt, a green vest, a blue half pant and a red towel with shoes on. It was further established that one SBML gun, kit bag, detonators and fuse wires were also found near the body. Therefore, the claim that the deceased was wearing only a towel and totally unarmed is completely false,” Laxmipur police station inspector in-charge Suryamani Pradhan stated in the counter affidavit.
“Sincere efforts were taken to hand over the dead body to the petitioner Simkari Huika, wife of the deceased. But, she was found absent in the village. Therefore, in her absence, the dead body was handed over to the villagers namely Siru Huika, Sadhu Sirika and Bibi Hembreka with proper acknowledgement for cremation as per tradition and custom,” Pradhan said.
Earlier, acting on her petition, the division bench of Chief Justice V. Gopala Gowda and Justice B.N. Mohapatra had issued notices to the state government on May 15.
The police said that acting on a tip-off on April 12, 2009, about the naxals, involved in the attack on the Mines Magazine of Nalco at Panchapatamali hill hiding at Talamitingi village under Laxmipur police station, a combing operation was undertaken on next day. As they reached the village the Maoists got scent of it and tried to escape.
The raiding party loudly asked them to surrender repeatedly. Instead the rebels fired indiscriminately. As a result, the police opened fire. There was exchange of fire on the northern side of the village for about 30 minutes and the Maoists escaped. Later, during search near the spot, the raiding party found the dead body of Huika who was identified by villagers as Katru Huika, 28, son of Nadia Huika of Karon Jajhola village under Narayanpatna police station presently staying at Talamitingi.
