Home Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday rejected the demand of Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee for an inquiry into the killing of Maoist leader Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad.
"Please tell me under which law the Centre should initiate an inquiry into the encounter killing of Maoist leader Azad, I am asking my non-lawyer friend (Bharatiya Janata Party leader) Yashwant Sinha," Chidambaram said while replying to a discussion in the Lok Sabha.
The minister said, "Maintaining law and order in the state is the responsibility of the respective state government. If you want an inquiry, you go to the state assembly and ask for a resolution."
"If you want any resources under my command for an inquiry into the case, I am ready to provide that," he said.
The minister chose to speak on the issue when Sinha intervened and said, "Your minister (Mamata Banerjee) has demanded an inquiry into the case."
Azad, who was a member of the Communist Party of India - Maoists politburo and a spokesperson for the insurgents, was killed by the police in an encounter in Adilabad district of Andhra Pradesh on July 2.
During a rally in Lalgarh on Monday, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee had condemned the killing of Maoist leader Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad who, she claimed, had agreed to hold talks with the government on behalf of the Naxals.
