Basavaraju's kin move HC for body

The Andhra Pradesh high court on Friday admitted a petition, filed by the family members of slain Maoist party general secretary Nambala Keshava Rao aka Basavaraju (70), seeking his body for the last rites, people familiar with the matter said.

- Srinivasa Rao Apparasu

HYDERABAD:

Basavaraju, along with 26 others, was killed in a fierce encounter with the security forces in Narayanpur forests in Chhattisgarh on May 21.

The house motion petition, filed jointly by Kesava Rao's mother Bharatamma and brother Nambala Dhilleshwara Rao, will come up for hearing by a division bench of the high court on Saturday.

"Notices are being served on the respondents, including Union home secretary, principal secretary (home) of the Andhra Pradesh government, Chhattisgarh chief secretary and director general of police, Andhra Pradesh DGP and Srikakulam district superintendent of police to submit their counters," Dhilleshwara Rao said.

The high court also admitted a separate petition filed by Sajja Srinivasa Rao, brother of Sajja Venkata Nageshwara Rao from Jandrapeta in Bapatla district, another Maoist leader who was also killed in the encounter. This petition will also be heard on Saturday.