Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu gave this assurance to a delegation comprising the deceased Naxalite's wife, Hussain Bee, CPI leader S Sudhakar Reddy, Sandhya and Ratnamala, activists of the Struggle Committee Against Atrocities on Women and Backward Welfare Association president R Krishnaiah which called on him at his residence here this morning. According to Sudhakar Reddy, the Chief Minister also acceded to the delegation's request that the inquiry cover the gang rape of Hussain Bee by policemen last April, the subsequent attack on her house and also the alleged kidnapping of her husband before he was done to death.

Naidu assured them that he would write to the Centre to provide protection by Central security forces to Hussain Bee if she so desired. Hussain Bee alleged yesterday that the policewere behind her husband's murder. But Home Minister A Madhava Reddy denied the charge. ``In fact, the police acted promptly,'' he said. ``Following Hussain Bee's complaint that her husband was kidnapped, the Chief Minister immediately directed the city police commissioner, the IG (Intelligence) and the Ranga Reddy district SP to take steps to trace Eedanna,'' Reddy added.

Hussain Bee was contesting the elections to the Kollapur zilla parishad territorial constituency in Mahaboobnagar district, the Home Minister said, adding personal rivalries could be the reason for the murder. He pointed out that the couple were active members of the People's War Group (PWG) for about seven years before they surrendered in 1995. While there were 41 cases against Eedanna in Mahaboobnagar and Nalgonda, Hussain Bee was facing charges in 11 cases, he said.

The Chilkalaguda police were informed on Friday that the headless body of a young man was lying in gunny bag on a pavement at Padmaraonagar. The body was later shifted tothe Gandhi Hospital mortuary. It was only on Saturday morning that Hussain Bee identified the victim as her 28-year-old husband after reading descriptions of the deceased in the newspapers.

Besides beheading Eedanna, the assailants also amputated his legs. There were injuries on his left hand and other parts of the body suggesting that he was tortured before being killed.

The couple had been alleging that the police was harassing them and was responsible for the atrocities. But political leaders and the top brass did not take the complaints seriously. Hussain Bee even rejected the ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh granted by the Chief Minister, demanding instead that ``justice be done''.