The dastardly and cold-blooded killing of Saket Rajan and Shivalinga has evoked widespread protests, with most of the progressive forces and intellectuals of the state denouncing the state government and the police. The fact that the police even refused to handover the bodies to the relatives and cremated the bodies on their own further revealed the high-handedness of the police.
The carrot and stick policy of the powers that be -- calling for negotiations and peaceful settlement on the one hand, and using brute force on the other, reveals the hypocrisy of the ruling classes. The two naxals, who were butchered, have not committed any crime, nor do they have any police case against them. Journalists who identified the bodies said that the two were picked up and shot dead from a close range in what is apparently a fake encounter.
Saket Rajan was the Karnataka State Secretary of the CPI(ML) PWG, now CPI(Maoist). Saket was also one of the prominent intellectuals of Karnataka and he had written a well-documented book on the economic history of the state.
The Karnataka police have also foisted conspiracy cases against Varavara Rao and balladeer Gaddar who protested along with hundreds of intellectuals against the police for not handing over the bodies. The Karnataka unit of CPI(ML) joined with all the civil liberty organizations in condemning the killings and issued a statement demanding stern action against the police officials involved.
-- N. Divakar