PM agreed to probe Azad's death: Swami Agnivesh

Swami Agnivesh, who has offered to be a moderator for talks between the Centre and Naxals, claimed that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had accepted his demand for an inquiry into the killing of Maoist leader Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad but government had backed out later.

"I met the prime minister on July 20 (to discuss Azad's encounter). He listened to me compassionately for 20 minutes. He then said it should be inquired into," Agnivesh claimed.

He was speaking at the launch of 'The Absent State: Insurgency as an Excuse for Misgovernance' -- a book by journalist-turned-authors Neelesh Misra and Rahul Pandita. The book deals with insurgency in Kashmir, Naxalism and problems in the North-East.

Agnivesh said after this meeting with the prime minister, he wrote to Maoist Central Committee leader Varanasi Subramanyam saying they should "pick up the threads" after Azad's killing and get ready for talks. However, he came to know that Subramanyam's life was also in danger after he received Agnivesh's letter.

Agnivesh said Home Minister P Chidambaram had ruled out a judicial inquiry into the case.

The book was launched by renowned filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, Swami Agnivesh and People's Conference leader Sajjad Ghani Lone in New Delhi. Chief Election Commissioner S Y Qureshi and several people from television and print media were present on the occasion.