Investigation into the killing of Maoist leader Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad and freelance journalist Hem Chandra Pandey in an alleged shootout in 2010 will handed over to the CBI, the Andhra Pradesh government told the Supreme Court on Monday.

The Andhra Pradesh government on Friday told the Supreme Court that it would be agreeable to a CBI inquiry into the killing of top Naxalite leader Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad and journalist Hemchandra Pandey by state police in a gunbattle in July 2010.

Maoist leader Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad was shot at point-blank range by the Andhra Pradesh Police and not in an encounter, a news-magazine has claimed.

"The post-mortem conducted on the body of