The Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee (APCLC) on Monday filed a petition with the Hyderabad High Court, to declare the killing of 24 Maoists in an encounter by a team of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha police along with special forces, as illegal.

According to reports, APCLC counsel Raghunath questioned the authorities over why cases of culpable homicide should not be registered against the cops who participated in the encounter.

He also added that the authorities acted in an unconstitutional manner and that the bodies were not handed over to the kin of the relatives.

The HC in its response, has asked Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to preserve the bodies of the Maoists till October 27.

In the early hours of Monday, 24 members of the banned CPI (Maoist), including eight women, were killed in an encounter by the police near Jantri in Malkangiri district of Odisha, a few kms away from the Andhra Pradesh border.

Commando Abu Baker from the Greyhounds team, an anti-Naxalite force of the Andhra Pradesh, died of wounds in the gunfight, while another commando is undergoing treatment at King George Hospital in Visakhapatnam.

It is suspected that Uday, a top Maoist who had a reward of Rs 2 lakh on his head, was among those killed in the operation. However, confirmation is awaited.

The Hindu reported:

This is the second major encounter and the biggest in Malkangiri district. It is also one of the major incidents on the Andhra-Odisha border area. Thirteen Maoists were killed in an encounter with the police in September 2013 in Podia block in Malkangiri district.

The APCLC were also the chief petitioners in the Chittoor encounter in April last year when Andhra forces killed 20 men, who the police claimed were red sanders smugglers.

However, many alleged that the men had been killed in a fake encounter.