Saw this:
Tamil Nadu government announces Rs 3 lakh compensation for 20 people killed in Chittoor encounter - IBNLive
if the encounter turns out to be genuine then... govt has just rewarded smugglers.
As of now two different stories going around:
Some TV Channels are already convinced they are innocent: Acc. to them they were travelling on a bus, taken into custody, tortured and then shot dead at point blank range, and then setup the bodies, and got sandalwood trees from a storage godown and put them around.
Also this video is circulating around from Nov. 2014 (disturbing)
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=597332500395098
Police say they asked them to surrender, they didnt and tried to attack the policemen, and they shot back in response, and that their action is self defence. The gang's leader is supposed to be some Gangi reddy guy, close to YSR congress. Seems like a fairly powerful gang, and has killed policemen before, and even attempted to assassinate Chandrababu at one point. Possibly might be a case of lower level henchmen getting caught in the cross fire between two groups.
Not sure what to believe