Chennai, April 7 (IANS): Expressing his distress over the killing of 20 people by Andhra Pradesh Police on Tuesday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam urged his Andhra counterpart N. Chandrababu Naidu to order a "credible enquiry" into the deaths.

In a letter to Naidu released to the media, Panneerselvam said: "I request you to kindly order a credible and speedy enquiry into the matter so that the facts are established and responsibility fixed for possible human rights violations.

"In case of any human rights violations, it is essential that action is taken against those who caused the deaths and appropriate compensation is paid to the families of the victims," he said.

According to Panneerselvam, many of the dead were from Tiruvannamalai and Vellore districts of Tamil Nadu.

"While it is possible that these persons may have been engaged in illegal activities, the occurrence of such high casualties in the operation raises concerns whether the Task Force personnel acted with adequate restraint.

"Even if the persons had been engaged in illicit tree cutting, efforts could have been made to apprehend them rather than take such drastic action and cause such high casualties," he added.