Centre sticks to AP stand

NEW DELHI: The Trinamool Congress and a section of the civil society may be piling up pressure on the government for a probe into the death of Maoist leader Azad, but the Centre will stick with the stand taken by the Andhra Pradesh government —that the Naxal leader was killed in a police encounter.

The Centre, which has been amplifying its stand that it will not like to come in the way of the legal process currently underway in Andhra Pradesh, sees no ground for ordering a seprate probe. In an interaction with a news weekly, home secretary GK Pillai has once again reiterated this position. “The Andhra Pradesh Police has put out a version. The post-mortem report and the FIR are before the court in Andhra Pradesh. The court is examining them and if they find anything contrary, they will order an inquiry. We are with the report filed by the state on the issue. If the court finds it all dissatisfying, then there will be an independent or magisterial enquiry as per the court directive. The home ministry will not initiate a separate enquiry,” Mr Pillai said.

The home secretary also said that there was no change in the Centre’s stand on dialogue with Maoists. ”Azad's death will have no impact and the request of the government is the same— abjure violence. We are not even asking them to give up arms. Keep your arms but abjure violence and whatever the issues, bring them up for negotiations," he said.