Kerala: Police cremate woman Maoist rebel's body

Thrissur: Police on Thursday cremated the body of the woman who was among the four alleged Maoists who were killed in the police action at Attappadi last month, as the relatives did not claim the body.

The woman was identified as Rema alias Ajitha (33), who is the daughter of Xavier of Indira Nagar at Alagappapuram in Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu, police sources said.

Police claimed that the family members had informed them that they had identified her by seeing her photo, but were not willing to receive the body.

The officials said they had decided to cremate the body after getting permission from the high court.

However, P A Shyna, who was under detention for three years since 2015 on charges of alleged links with the Maoists, has contested the claims of police. “The police are claiming that the relatives have identified the body by seeing her photograph. How can one ensure that the photograph that was published was that of the woman who was killed in police action. Police should have at least brought the relatives to Thrissur Medical College Hospital and shown them the body for more accurate identification,’’ Shyna said here.

“Several people have raised doubts about the police version on the encounter killing of the alleged Maoists. Now that police have cremated the body, the possibilities of exhuming the body for a later investigation have also been nullified,’’ she said. However, the police officers said they have collected the samples from the body for conducting DNA tests in case any questions are raised about the identity of the person in future. The cremation was conducted at the Guruvayur Municipal crematorium amid tight police security.