JTSA Condemns the Killing of Koteshwar Rao, and Encounter Killings as State Policy

JTSA condemns the killing of Koteshwar Rao (also known as Kishen ji) by joint forces. There are already strong allegations that Kishen ji was arrested and tortured prior to being killed.  The truth must be unearthed through a free and fair judicial probe. At a time when peace talks are on, and interlocutors have been appointed, the state has chosen to use encounter killings as state policy. This only exposes the government’s lack of any genuine commitment towards the peace talks. What is deeply worrying is the consensus that seems to unite on the one hand, dubious security experts who gleefully push for a militaristic solution to Maoism on television and CPI (M) whose leader hailed the killing as a ‘way forward’.