As protests over the killing of 20 labourers Tuesday by an Andhra Pradesh police task force grew into a chorus, a Tamil Nadu villager said today he saw seven of the 20 being taken off a bus by Andhra Pradesh policemen near the border of the two states, hours before the incident.
Sekhar, a resident of Vettagiripalayam near Arni in Tiruvannamalai district, returned home early Tuesday — around the time 20 people were gunned down by the red sanders anti-smuggling task force in the Seshachalam forests near Tirupati. Police claimed they had been hired by smugglers to chop the red sanders and, on being confronted, had attacked the task force.
Sekhar told villagers and his relatives he was with the seven in the bus when it was stopped by Andhra Pradesh policemen Monday evening. While the others were led out, he was spared because he was sitting next to a woman and police thought he was her husband, Sekhar was quoted as having said.
All eight had set out from their homes in Vettagiripalayam on Monday afternoon. Only Sekhar returned Tuesday morning.
Hours later, policemen turned up with photographs of seven who were gunned down.
Kannamangalam DSP N Mani said they traced the homes of the men using the address proof given to mobile phone companies.
“We went to each and every house with photographs taken from the encounter site.” He said they will probe Sekhar’s version of the incident. “He is afraid of the police and is refusing to appear before us. Our attempts to trace him have been futile though some mediapersons have managed to reach him,” he said.