Andhra govt forms eight-member SIT to probe Chittoor firing

Andhra Pradesh government has constituted an eight-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe case pertaining to the killing of 20 people in Seshachalam forest area of Chittoor district.

"The SIT, led by Ravishankar Ayyanar who till recently headed National Investigation Agency (NIA), Hyderabad branch, will conduct a thorough investigation into the incident that led to the opening of fire by personnel of Red Sanders Anti-Smuggling Task Force besides a probe into the case registered in this regard," Andhra Pradesh director general of police Jasti Venkata Ramudu said in a statement in Hyderabad on Friday.

The state government has ordered a comprehensive inquiry into the incident, the DGP added.

Ayyanar, an IPS officer from Andhra Pradesh cadre, had earlier joined NIA on deputation. He returned to the AP cadre recently and is among the eight-member SIT team.

Twenty people were gunned down in Seshachalam hill ranges of Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh on April 7 in an operation by the police.

Based on a complaint filed by Muniyammal, the wife of one of the victims Sashi Kumar, the AP police had earlier registered an FIR under sections 302 (murder) and 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder) against "unknown" task force personnel.