SHRC ISSUES NOTICE TO STATE ON WANI POLICE FIRING INCIDENT

Fm: T.O.ABRAHAM: 9422865570

Yavatmal, December 14

YL-2: SHRC ISSUES NOTICE TO STATE ON WANI POLICE FIRING INCIDENT

The State Human Rights’ Commission has issued notice to State Govt to reply within four weeks after a preliminary hearing of the petition filed by the President of Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti Kishor Tiwari against the District Superintendent of Police, Police Station Officer of Wani and the Chief Secretary of Maharashtra in connection with the police firing at Wani on December 8 last in which one farmer succumbed to his bullet injuries and many others received injuries.

According to Adv. Vinod Tiwari, the counsel for the petitioner, the police opened firing on innocent cotton growers who were waiting for their cotton laden carts to be weighed at the procurement centre on December 8 at the APMC yard in Wani and killed an innocent farmer. The police firing even caused bullet injuries to many others. They resorted to cane charge resulting in a stampede causing injuries to a number of others. The firing was uncalled for and illegal and guilty should be punished.

The cotton growers were unnecessarily held up on the yard for a number of chilling nights merely because the graders and federation officials deliberately delayed the weighing of the cotton and consequently there was unrest among the farmers. The firing should have been avoided if the police had maintained self restraint at such a circumstance, he added.

The petitioner and his supporters were heading towards village Mendholi to attend the funeral of the deceased farmers Dinesh Ghugul peacefully. However, the power drunk cops detained them and shifted them to a distant place kept in unlawful confinement sans any warrant or legal sanction from the concerned authorities which amounts to be a crime and needs to be punished, pleaded the petitioner.

The petitioner has also demanded for initiating criminal proceedings against the guilty police officers and giving Rs. 10 lakh compensation to the next of kin of the deceased farmer and adequate compensation to all the injured. Kishor Tiwari has demanded compensation to the tune of Rs. 5 lakh for his unlawful confinement resulting in the infringement of his fundamental rights envisaged in the Constitution of India. (EOM)