Palakkad (Ker), Nov 1 (PTI) The CPI,an ally of the ruling LDF, on Friday traded barbs with its partner CPI(M) over gunning down of four suspected Maoists,reiterating that it was a fake encounter, prompting the Marxist party to say their trip there would send a "wrong message" to the public.

The CPI delegation,led by party state assistant secretary K Prakash Babu visited the site at nearby Attapaddi and interacted with the villagers and officials.

The party, while reiterating that it was neither the government policy or stand to kill Maoists, faulted police, alleging that the Thunderbolt team engages in such exercises on their own and had not informed the political leadership of their recent combing operation.

"The police report will definitely say that they were attacked first," the party alleged.

Babu told reporters that the information they gleaned after talking to the villagers, panchayat members and others was that it was a fake encounter.

He also said that the villagers had told them that they had never faced any trouble from the Maoists.

"They were killed by around 500-member Thunderbolt team. Somebody should answer such acts. We are now sure that they were killed in a fake encounter," Babu said.

To this culture minister A K Balan said the CPI(M) would never support any attempt to kill someone who spreads a different ideology and wondered how the team would ascertain who first opened fire, the Maoists or police.

"I don't understand why they visited the site. I wonder how they would find out who fired first, whether it was police or the Maoists. The visit will only give away a wrong message to the public," he told reporters.

Four suspected Maoists were gunned down earlier this week in an alleged encounter.

Police had said four Maoists--- Karthi, Rema, Aravind and Manivasagan-- were killed in an exchange of fire started by the ultras during a two-day police combing operation in Palakkad district that started on October 28.

The Chief Minister has reiterated that the Thunderbolt team fired at the Maoists in self-defense.

The CPI(M) state secretariat, which met today, decided to express its opinion only after the report of magisterial enquiry.

Meanwhile the relatives of one of the suspected Maoists who was killed said they could not identify his body.

"We saw the body... That's not him.. he has some patches (birthmark) on his legs. Also this body is taller than him," a relative told reporters.

The NHRC, convened here for two days for an open hearing and camp sitting to consider cases relating to alleged human rights violations in Kerala and Lakshadweep, said they were yet to receive a report from the government on the killings.

"Normally, the state government must file a report with the National Human Rights Commission within 48 hours of any such incidents.

But for the last two days, the whole Commission is here in Thiruvananthapuram and we don't know whether the report has reached the office or not.

Once we reach Delhi, we will look into the matter and act accordingly," NHRC Chairperson Justice H L Dattu told reporters.

The CPI state council had on Wednesday criticised the Maoist killings.

Terming it as a fake encounter, CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran had said that his party had collected details from its local cadre, who termed it as a fake encounter

"The Maoists were killed while they were having food," Kanam had said.

A Kerala court had on Thursday directed police not to cremate the bodies of the suspected Maoists, who were gunned down earlier this week in an alleged encounter near Attapady here, till November 4.

The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court had also directed authorities to allow Kala, widow of Manivasagan, and his relatives to see his body.

The order came in a petition moved by Kala, who is now jailed at Tiruchirappalli in another case.

The State DGP Loknath Behera on Wednesday handed over the investigation into the alleged encounter to the crime branch.

While the Congress-led Opposition UDF and ruling LDF ally CPI had alleged that it was a fake encounter, police on Thursday released a video and photographs of the inquest team which came under the alleged attack by Maoists on Tuesday.

The video, released through TV channels,shows the inquest team lying down in the forest and sound of gunshots in the air

As UDF demanded an independent probe into the matter, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had justified the police action, saying it was an act of self-defence.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)