The Supreme Court said that a CBI probe has established that the killing of top Maoist leader Cherukuri Rajkumar and a journalist, by Andhra Pradesh Police in July 2010, was not a fake encounter.

A bench comprising of justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana Prakash Desai said that the investigation does not seem to bear out petitioners apprehension that it was a fake encounter.

The bench, which went through the final report of the CBI in the investigation, said that the agency has given evidence to support its probe.

The court was hearing a petition filed by Bineeta Pandey, wife of the slain journalist Hemchandra Pandey, and social activist Swami Agnivesh, who had sought an independent CBI probe into the killing.