Chittoor firing case: HC orders fresh autopsy for victim

The Hyderabad high court on Thursday directed Andhra Pradesh government to conduct a fresh autopsy on the body of Sashi Kumar, one of the 20 people who were killed in police firing in red sanders forest Chittoor district on April 7.

In response to an application filed by Muniyammal, Kumar’s wife and a native of Tamil Nadu, the division bench of Chief Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta and Justice P V Sanjay Kumar passed the direction.

Muniyammal had sought a fresh autopsy for her husband and five other victims. She had also demanded that the procedure be videographed.

However, the court ordered fresh autopsy only for Shashi Kumar. Refusing to entertain the plea of K Balu, the petitioner’s lawyer, that fresh autopsies be directed for five others, the court said the other parties (legal heirs/relatives of other victims) had not come to the court.

These six bodies are kept in a government hospital in Thiruvannamalai district of Tamil Nadu.

Responding to a plea by Additional Advocate General D Srinivas on getting the autopsy done by an independent institute, the bench said a team of doctors from the state-run Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences will conduct the autopsies in Chennai.

“The post-mortem will be conducted in Chennai,” the bench said and directed the chief secretary of Tamil Nadu to ensure safety for the medical team and a peaceful atmosphere.

The autopsy report should be submitted in a sealed cover before the court on Monday, it said.

As the AP government could not furnish the first autopsy report (of all the 20 bodies) today, the HC asked AAG to submit it by April 20. The government has only submitted inquest report.

Twenty people were gunned down in Seshachalam hill range of Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh on April 7 in an operation by the police.