Confirming foul play in the deaths of seven villagers killed in a fake encounter near Santoshpur village on March 31, the preliminary autopsy report of four of the victims’ bodies, exhumed for post-mortem from Ponjer village on Monday evening, has revealed gunshot wounds and deep gashes caused by sharp-edged weapons like axes or machetes. The bodies of two victims exhumed yesterday await post-mortem. One victim was cremated after the massacre.

The autopsy report was prepared by doctors from Dantewada District Hospital, R L Gangesh, B R Pujari and Sanjay Baghel. The autopsy was carried out after The Indian Express first reported the “encounter” which had been kept under wraps, in which villagers said seven innocent tribals were picked up by the police and Salwa Judum — an armed anti-Naxalite force comprising villagers — and killed in cold blood as “Naxalite sympathisers.”

Inspector General (Bastar Range) R K Vij. confirmed the findings but denied that any gunshot wounds had been found. “No bullets have been recovered from these bodies so far,” he said.