Raipur, Aug 30 (IANS) The Chhattisgarh government Tuesday ordered a judicial probe into the killing of a teenaged girl by policemen in alleged staged shootout in July. The opposition Congress raised the issue in the state assembly and questioned the government’s intention to punish the guilty.
Meena Khalko, a tribal girl branded as a Maoist, was killed July 6 allegedly by several policemen in Surguja district under the jurisdiction of Chando police station.
‘The single-member judicial commission will probe the killing and will submit the report within three months to the state government,’ a statement of the Chhattisgarh government said.
Anita Jha, district and sessions court judge of Bilaspur, has been appointed to probe the killing.
The state assembly witnessed uproarious scenes on the issue as the opposition Congress members asked the government to reply why a first information report (FIR) was not registered in the case till date.
‘It was not an encounter and the poor girl was not even a Maoist, she was gunned down by police in a complete fake encounter, I can’t understand why was an FIR not registered in the killing,’ Nand Kumar Patel, former home minister and Congress legislator was heard saying amid slogans by Congress members.
He sought the resignation of the state home minister.
The incident had sparked tension as it was widely believed that the 16-year-old girl was sexually assaulted by the policemen and was shot dead as she had planned to expose them.
The state government had July 12 ordered confinement of 12 local policemen of Chando police station.
Tribals termed the incident a cold-blooded murder.
