Post-Poll Violence: SIT to submit report today

Vijayawada: The 13-member Special Investigation Team (SIT), led by IG Vineet Brijlal and constituted to probe the post-poll violence in Anantapur, Palnadu and Tirupati districts, will submit its report on Monday to the Election Commission of India.

The SIT teams visited all the affected areas and conducted a probe into the incidents that rocked the state. They examined CCTV footages, videos and focused on issues like whether there was any failure on the part of intelligence information or if the administration had failed to take timely action.

They also probed the possible security lapses and tried to zero in on who was involved in the violence, their political affiliation and the role of lower-level police officials in controlling the violence. This assumes importance as there were complaints from the Opposition that some police officers did not take timely action and allegedly worked as coverts for the government.

The SIT teams also spoke to several people in the affected areas regarding the incidents. It is learnt that many of them had said that they were being wrongly implicated in the incidents though they had not participated in the violence.

The SIT teams also examined in depth the FIRs filed by the police in all the affected areas and are likely to add more sections. The SIT also verified the veracity of the report given by some District Collectors that only sticks were used and not rods. They also collected information regarding the instructions given by the Chief Secretary to control the violence and what action had been taken if his instructions were not carried out. The SIT reportedly noticed that there was failure of the administration in bringing the situation back to normal. The possibility of some arrests of some political leaders is also not ruled out.