Police to conduct DNA test of slain Naxal`s kin

Gadchiroli: A DNA test will be conducted to establish the `true` identity of a woman `Naxal`, killed in an encounter on April 4, after a person claimed her to be his sister even as the body has already been handed over to another family, an official said.

"We will conduct DNA test of both the family members to ascertain her identity. We have already taken their blood samples and preserved the woman`s viscera after conducting the postmortem", SP Mohammed Suvez Haque told reporters here yesterday. Police had identified the tribal woman as Sarita alias Jyoti and handed over her body to her "family members". However, a person named Vinu Kumma Tado has claimed that the slain woman was not Sarita but his sister Sunita Tado, a resident of the district. Vinu had said in his statement to police that the woman killed in the encounter at Bhatpar forest bordering Chhattisgarh on April 4, along with her comrades, as claimed by police, was his sister and she was not a Maoist. When asked on what grounds police identified her as Sarita in the first place, the SP said, "Our identification was based on profiles of Naxals we have in our records, besides some surrendered ultras too identified her as Sarita apart from her family members". Haque said if the woman was found to be Sunita as claimed by her brother, her body will be exhumed and handed over to him. However, police are facing a pertinent question on her true identity, if it is established after disinterment that the woman was not Sunita. "In that case, we presume that ultras must have taken her away along with them", the SP said. Though Vinu had said her sister was not a Maoist he had admitted that she was a sympathiser and used to visit Naxals, often carrying food for them, in the forest area, Haque said. "This incident has taught us a lesson. We will be more alert and conduct DNA test of family members as a precautionary measure in such cases in future", Haque added. PTI