on receipt of information that death was caused by the firing of the police party should record that information and draw the inference that there is reason to suspect the commission of a cognizable offence. After making necessary entries, steps should be taken to investigaie the facts and circumstances leading to the death admittedly caused by the bullets of the poliie to find out whether it was justified either in the exercise of the right of private defence or in the legitimate exercise of the power of arrest under the circumstances specified in Section 46(3) of the Cr.PC. As the police party of the same police station is involved in the firing resulting in the killing, such cases should invariably be made over to an independent investigating agency. The Commission recommended to the Government of Andhra Pradesh to take steps to investigate the facts and circumstances leading to the death of members of People's War Group (PWG) in alleged encounters with the police and to complete the investigations within 4 months. If the investigations resulted in the need for prosecution, steps be taken for speedy trial. In pursuance of the Commission's recommendatiqns, the Andhra Pradesh Government have entrusted the State CID with the responsibility of undertaking detailed investigations into the death of five persons killed in the alleged "fake encounters' and the officers concerned have been instructed to complete the task within three months. The Chairperson has drawn the attention of all Chief Ministers to the the detailed recommendations of the Commission In this case. His letter may be seen at Annexure VI of this report. (ii) Complaints from Shrl Sanjay Singh Umesh of Daltonganj, Bihar regarding police encounter killings The complainant alleged that on 15 April, 1996 six naxalites were killed by the p o k e at Murumdag village, Daltonganj, Bihar. The PUCL Palamau which had earlier enquired into the.matter stated that an armed group came to the village to settle a dispute. On receipt.of information; the police came and encircled the members of the armed group who surrendered to the.police. Thereafter, the members of the group were made to stand at different pjaces and fired at by the.police. In all six persons were killed as a result of the firing by the police. The PUCL found that the allegation of the police that the naxalite group had' attacked the police party with bombs and firearms and that the police returned fire in self-defence resu1ting.h the death of six persons to be untrue. The armed group came in plain clothes but after their post mortem they were dressed in khaki uniforms which had neither any holes nor bullet marks on them. ,