The Andhra Pradesh police on Tuesday registered a case of kidnap and murder against unidentified personnel of the Special Task Force who were involved in the gunning down of 20 woodcutters of Tamil Nadu in the Seshachalam forests near Tirupati on April 7.

Based on a complaint lodged by S. Muniyammal (29) of Vetagiripalayam in Tiruvannamalai district whose husband, Sashi Kumar, was among those shot dead, the Chandragiri police registered a case under Section 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder) and 302 (murder) of the IPC. The case has been booked against some unidentified Andhra Pradesh police STF personnel whose names and addresses are “not known”.

Though the complaint was received on April 12, the Chandragiri police registered a case two days after obtaining legal opinion and “instructions from superior officers.”

In her complaint, Muniammal said some STF personnel picked up her husband Sashi Kumar, Moorthy, Mahendran, Perumal, Beeman, Palani and Munuswamy from a bus near the Tamil Nadu-Andhra Pradesh border between 6 and 6.30 p.m.