Body of slain woman Maoist Ajitha buried in police presence in Kerala's Kozhikode

Kozhikode: The body of woman Maoist Ajitha, killed in an alleged encounter along with another Maoist leader in Nilambur forests last month, was buried in the city outskirts on Saturday in the presence of police officials.

About 35 persons, comprising friends and relatives of the slain Maoist, paid their last respects to 45-year-old Ajitha at the public burial ground at West Hill following permission granted by Kerala High Court, police said.

A police team including the Assistant Commissioner of Police were present during the burial.

The body has been buried instead of being cremated so as to facilitate a second post-mortem, if needed, police added.

Earlier, the body, which had been preserved at the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital mortuary for more than three weeks, was handed over to Bhagat Singh, a lawyer practising in Madurai and the Madras High Court who claimed to be a friend of Ajitha, and others.

He had filed a petition in the High Court seeking a direction to claim the body for giving it a decent disposal.

The body of Maoist leader Kuppuswamy Devaraj was cremated here on December 9.

Ajitha and Devaraj, a central committee member of the outlawed outfit, were gunned down in an alleged encounter in Nilambur forests in Malappuram district on November 24 during search operations by a 60-member elite team of the Thunderbolt Force, based on a tip-off that some Maoists were camping in the area.