Sir — The media has been criticising Andhra Pradesh Police for killing a bunch of people who were allegedly part of a group engaged in smuggling red sandalwood. Not surprisingly, mass killings have been met with an emotional response in neighbouring Tamil Nadu (since the dead were from that State), where agitators took to burning Andhra Pradesh State Transport Corporation buses to vent their anger. Madras High Court lawyers even burnt posters of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. The demand for a probe has also become louder.
Tamil Nadu politicians, who have condemned the killings, must desist from inciting violence and focus on the issue at hand. The State had grappled with similar matters during the Veerappan period. It looks, a decade later, that only the backdrop has changed, from the Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border to the Andhra-Tamil Nadu border.