Kishanji suffered six bullet injuries and at least two shrapnel wounds, the preliminary autopsy report said on Saturday. He died of these combat injuries, it says, ruling out the allegations of torture and custodial death levelled by rights bodies, Maoist sympathizer Varavara Rao and Kishanji’s niece Deepa. The government is going about it cautiously and has ordered a CID inquiry into Kishanji’s death. In an unprecedented move, the administration gave full access to Deepa and Rao to see the body and film it. Deepa later showed the cellphone footage of the body to the media and insisted Kishanji had been tortured and killed in custody. Rao, Deepa and some Maoist sympathizers were heckled by local residents at Midnapore medical college when they gave slogans of ‘Kishanji amar rahe’. “How can you call a mass killer a shaheed?” a local shouted. The situation grew so tense that police had to escort Varavara and Deepa out. The autopsy report said all the injuries to Kishanji were ante-mortem — he was wounded when still alive. But the time of death — crucial evidence that can prove or disprove the allegation of custodial killing —can only be ascertained after a chemical analysis of the viscera, say sources. Kishanji suffered 20 injuries, of which at least four were grievous — a bullet that pierced the left cheek and smashed open his right lower jaw, another that pierced his left armpit and may have ripped into his lungs or other vital organs, a third that hit him in the right chest and finally a splinter injury to the back of the head. The traumatic jaw injury that led to massive blood loss and the bullet to the left armpit could have proved fatal on their own. His left heel and left palm were shattered by bullets. Another bullet pierced his left knee and there was a splinter injury just above it. The preliminary examination showed no signs of torture, say sources.
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