Naxals take blame for MP minister Likhiram Kawre's murder

Naxals take blame for MP minister Likhiram Kawre's murder
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

BALAGHAT, DECEMBER 21: Naxalites of People's War Group (PWG) today claimed responsibility for the murder of Likhiram Kawre, Madhya Pradesh minister for transport, at Sohanpuri, about 40 km from here, on December 16.

Mediapersons here received a four-page letter purported to have been written by naxalites claiming the responsibility.

As per the letter, written by Santosh, secretary of the Malajkhand dalam of naxalites belonging to PWG, they had taken out Kawre from his house soon after midnight on December 15 and murdered him.

The naxal leader said that before fleeing from the site of the killing, they had left behind pamphlets stating that they had murdered the minister.

Elaborating on the incident, the letter said that the minister was murdered in retaliation for the killing of four naxalites in an alleged encounter at Karimnagar in Andhra Pradesh on December 2.

He said that the media had not written a word about the manner in which the four naxalites had been killed at Karimnagar, but was nowdubbing Kawre's murder as brutal and heinous.

He said that till now, no action has been taken against those who killed the four naxalites, but within 24 hours after Kawre was murdered, a high-level committee had been set up to catch his murderers.

The naxal wing secretary said that the value of each person's life was the same. ``Whether it is a naxalite or a minister, both should be treated equally,'' the letter said.

He said that during the last 20 years, around 300 naxalites had been killed, but still they continued to be strong. He demanded that policemen responsible for the killing of the four naxalites at Karimnagar should be arrested.

Meanwhile in Bhopal, state Home Minister Nand Kumar Patel directed the police to verify the authenticity of the letter by naxals.

An official release also quoted the Minister as saying that police had begun investigations into the origin of the letter, which was received by several mediapersons in Balaghat.

It said that following receipt of the letter, thepolice action against naxalites in the Balaghat district had been intensified.