New Delhi, April 9 (IANS): The Supreme Court Thursday was urged to take suo motu cognizance of the killing of 20 people, purportedly engaged in smuggling rare red sanders wood, by Andhra Pradesh Police in a forested area.

As counsel R. Krishnamoorthy urged a bench of Chief Justice H.L. Dattu and Justice Arun Mishra to take up the issue, Chief Justice Dattu asked him to file a petition making a prayer for the purpose.

Emerging from the court room, Krishnamoorthy told media persons that he would be filing a petition shortly and would seek a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the alleged staged gunfight.

Andhra Pradesh Police said they shot dead the 20 smugglers in a Chittoor district early Tuesday after being attacked with sickles and other weapons in two places in Seshachalam forest, about 500 km from Hyderabad.

Tamil Nadu has taken up the issue strongly as most of those killed were from Tiruvannamalai, Vellore and Dhramapuri in the state.