Kerala Chief Minister A K Antony is under increasing pressure from his Congress partymen and the opposition to order a judicial inquiry into the police firing at tribals in Muthanga forest sanctuary in Wayanad district.

Three weeks after the clash, in which a policeman and a tribal were killed, the opposition has raised the issue in the Lok Sabha.

Antony has said that there is no need for a judicial inquiry, as the police opened fire after the tribals killed a constable. But fearing that the increasing publicity is beginning to affect the image of the Congress government in Kerala and other states, party president Sonia Gandhi has asked Antony for a report.

Congress leaders said that on Thursday, Gandhi asked the chief minister to ensure that the tribals' stir does not affect his government.

It is not yet known whether Gandhi's 'concern' will force Antony to order a judicial probe. But senior Congress leaders in the state stand by Antony and insist that ordering a judicial inquiry will only be to the advantage of the opposition.

For the past three weeks, opposition legislators have been carrying out an indefinite relay fast in front of the Kerala secretariat demanding a judicial inquiry. Rights groups and opposition parties claim that at least 16 tribals were killed in the firing. They also allege that the police may have killed many tribals who are missing.

"The opposition parties are carrying out a politically motivated campaign against the Antony government," Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president K Muraleedharan said.

Antony's detractor and senior Congress leader K Karunakaran has criticised the government's 'inept handling of the issue'. "I also demand a judicial probe into the tribal firing because it has ashamed Kerala," said Karunakaran, who is Muraleedharan's father and a former chief minister.

Party leaders are free to air their views, 'but all the Congressmen need to back the Antony government's attempts at redressing the tribal problem', Muraleedharan told rediff.com

A promise of free land, which the government gave to the tribals last year, is the root cause of the problem. Landless tribal families in Kerala were to get up to five acres of land. The government claims the distribution of land is going on, but tribal leaders say the promise has not been fulfilled.

Antony has time and again said that the opposition is spreading lies against him and the government.

"Some of them have even compared me with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. But I want to inform every one that I cannot be politically assassinated in this fashion," Antony said at a press briefing recently.

The chief minister said he is against a judicial inquiry because the National Human Rights Commission is already on the job. "My government has submitted a detailed report on the Muthanga incidents to the NHRC. We are ready to abide by the findings and decision of the apex human rights body in the country."

The police on Thursday said that the reports of missing tribals from Wayanad are 'misleading'.

It said special police teams have already searched various villages and located some 40 'missing tribals'. A report from Tamil Nadu said a number of tribal families from Kerala have also escaped to border areas like Gudallore and Kottapady.